Litigation involving estates covers numerous types of cases. For example, a will contest might involve heirs who believe that a decedent's will was procured through fraud, duress, or undue influence, or that the person writing the will did not have sufficient mental capacity to know what he or she was doing.

Sometimes disputes arise over the language of the will itself. A will provision may be capable of more than one interpretation, and a court may be requested to interpret the will.

There also may be circumstances in which an executor or administrator is not doing their job as required by law. Litigation may be necessary to require the executor or administrator to account for their actions, or to have the executor or administrator removed.

Georgia has a statutory provision called "year's support" which allows a surviving spouse and minor children of a decedent to file an action in the probate court which, if successful, would make an award of assets of the estate to the spouse and/or minor children regardless of what the will says. The award may also protect those assets from the claims of the decedent's creditors.