What happens to a will challenge if the person contesting the will dies before it's resolved?

If the person challenging a will dies before the dispute is resolved, the challenge doesn't automatically end just because that person is no longer alive to see it through. Whether it continues generally depends on the nature of the claim and whether it's the kind of interest that survives death and passes to that person's own estate — a financial claim to a share of the deceased testator's estate, for example, is generally the kind of interest that can be carried on by the contestant's own estate trustee, stepping into the litigation in their place.

In practice, this usually means the contestant's own estate trustee needs to be substituted as the party continuing the challenge, and the litigation proceeds with that new party representing the original contestant's interest, subject to the court's usual case management. Whether it makes practical sense to continue can also change: the contestant's own estate and beneficiaries may weigh the costs and merits differently than the original contestant did, and may choose to settle or discontinue rather than carry on. If you're facing this situation, either as an estate trustee for the original estate or for the contestant who has died, get legal advice promptly on how the substitution process works.