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A will made by someone with dementia can be challenged and potentially invalidated, depending on whether they had mental capacity when they signed it. Courts usually look at whether the person understood what assets they owned, who their family members were, and what they were actually signing. If there's evidence they were confused or easily influenced during that time, the will might get thrown out and an earlier one used instead, or the estate gets divided according to state law. It's messy and expensive to litigate, so having medical records and witnesses who can testify about their mental state at the time makes a big difference.
Dementia alone doesn't automatically trash a will - timing matters a lot. My grandfather got diagnosed early on, and his will from before symptoms showed up held fine; the problem came when he tried to change it two years later when he was clearly confused about who his kids even were, and the family didn't contest it then but probably could have. Courts basically ask whether he had his marbles when he actually signed, so if someone's been declining for years, lawyers will dig into medical records and witness statements from that specific day to figure out if they understood what they were doing.
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