Updated August 7, 2026. Quick answer: in most states a no-contest clause is unenforceable against someone who had a good reason to sue. 🔴 The test is probable cause, and it is the whole ballgame — a clause that looks absolute on the page usually is not.
The majority rule, in the statute’s own words
Most states have adopted the Uniform Probate Code’s formulation. Two states’ enactments, read directly:
A provision in a will purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate is unenforceable if probable cause exists for instituting proceedings.
Read what that does and does not say. It does not say the clause is void. It says the clause cannot be enforced against a contest brought with probable cause. 🔴 So a beneficiary with a genuine reason to question the will risks nothing; a beneficiary who sues out of disappointment risks everything. That is the design.
Florida goes further — the clause is simply unenforceable
Florida’s statute drops the probable-cause condition entirely:
A provision in a will purporting to penalize any interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate is unenforceable.
One word shorter, and it changes everything. In Florida the clause does not work at all — there is no probable-cause question to argue about, because there is nothing to enforce.
California enforces a narrow list, strictly construed
California limits enforcement to specified contests: a clause “shall only be enforced against” a direct contest brought without probable cause, and certain property-transfer and creditor challenges. Two further rules do most of the practical work:
- “In determining the intent of the transferor, a no contest clause shall be strictly construed.” — ambiguity runs against the clause.
- ⚠️ “This part is not intended as a complete codification of the law governing enforcement of a no contest clause. The common law governs… to the extent this part does not apply.” — the statute is not the whole answer even in California.
And there is a date on it: the rules apply to instruments “that became irrevocable on or after January 1, 2001”. An older document may be governed by different law.
🔴 What we are not going to tell you
We are not publishing a fifty-state enforceability table. Three reasons, and all three are honest:
- Enforceability is partly case law. California’s own statute says the common law still governs where the statute does not reach. A table of statutes would imply a completeness that does not exist.
- ⚠️ The widely-repeated claim that Florida and Indiana both void these clauses is wrong. Florida does. Indiana’s current statute makes a no-contest provision enforceable by its express terms, subject to carve-outs — close to the opposite. We read that text from a secondary source rather than the legislature’s own site, so we state the correction and go no further.
- A wrong row in a fifty-state table is worse than no table, because someone will act on it.
What to do instead: ask your own lawyer two questions — does my state apply a probable-cause exception, and is my instrument old enough to fall under different rules? Those two answers decide almost everything.
What this means if you are the one drafting
🔴 A no-contest clause is not a lock. It is a deterrent priced against your heirs’ confidence. If a child has a genuine reason to think something is wrong, the clause probably will not stop them and probably will not be enforced. If they are merely unhappy, it might.
The clause works best where it is least needed — in a document whose reasoning is clear enough that nobody has probable cause. Which is an argument for explaining an unequal split rather than relying on a penalty to survive it. Where a DIY will stops being safe, and what your state requires for the will itself.
Sources
The majority formulation: N.D. Cent. Code §30.1-20-05 and Neb. Rev. Stat. §30-24,103, both enacting Uniform Probate Code §§2-517 and 3-905. Florida: Fla. Stat. §732.517. California: Cal. Prob. Code §§21311, 21312, 21313 and 21315. All read 7 August 2026. General information about how these rules work, not legal advice on your document or your state. Probate law is state law and the details differ; confirm anything decision-critical with a lawyer in your state.