“To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Properly drafted estate planning documents can both decrease the likelihood of an estate claim and, in the event of an attack by a disgruntled heir or beneficiary of the estate, increase the chances that the estate plan will be successfully defended. Ideally, properly drafted estate planning documents will in fact dissuade a potential challenger from even commencing litigation. That is in fact the ultimate goal: dissuading a potential litigant from ever even filing his or her lawsuit.
The following discussion assumes Florida law will be governing the testamentary instrument. As such, drafting techniques commonly employed in other jurisdictions but unenforceable in Florida are not addressed. (For example, in terrorem clauses are enforceable in New York, but not enforceable under Florida law – see here).