Contesting a Will

You may be able to contest a Will if you feel that you have been unfairly left out or that the Will doesn’t provide for you enough. This includes:

• If you are named in the Will but received less than you expected
• If you were financially dependent on the deceased and have not received enough in the Will
• If you have been left out of the Will entirely
• If the deceased promised to give you something before they died, but didn’t
• If you are worried that the Will doesn’t accurately reflect the deceased’s wishes.

Whatever your concerns about your loved one’s Will, our specialist team can advise how best to put things right. Call us today to find out more.

For a Will to be legally valid, there are some conditions that must be in place:

• The person making the Will must be of ‘sound mind’ (read more about testamentary capacity)
• They must act of their own free will and fully understand the contents of the Will (read more about undue influence)
• The correct legal procedure must be followed when the Will is drawn up – this is known as ‘due execution’.

If the Will is declared invalid because of a lack of due execution, you may be able to make a professional negligence claim against the Solicitor or Will writer who dealt with it.

If you haven’t been named in the Will, in many cases you could still make a claim. Whether it is done deliberately or not, excluding someone from a Will doesn’t automatically mean they can’t inherit.

Reasons for being left out of the Will could include:

• The deceased was living with a new partner but hadn’t updated their Will to reflect this
• They were influenced to change their Will before they died
• They had become estranged from their children and didn’t want them to inherit.

Some people, including spouses, partners and children, may be entitled to some form of financial provision under the Inheritance Act 1975. You could also make a claim if the deceased had promised you something while they were alive, but then failed to put this in their Will. Find out more on our Pre-death Agreements page.

Contentious probate refers to any dispute about the administration of a deceased person’s estate, rather than the contents of the Will or whether or not it is valid.

Contentious probate could involve a dispute about:

• The value of assets
• The interpretation of a Will
• How the estate should be divided up when there is no Will
• Dealing with an executor who has mismanaged the estate
• Disagreements between those named in the Will.

Head to our Contentious Probate page for more information – or give us a call today to talk to one of the team. Alternatively, message us online and we’ll call you back.

To prevent someone contesting a Will, you need to make sure:

• The Will is legally sound
• The wishes of the testator's are clearly expressed
• You've minimised the potential grounds for challenge.

Yes, if you're named on the Will as a beneficiary, you should receive a copy of the Will once it becomes a public document.

Even before the Will becomes a public document, executors will often send a copy to the beneficiaries, even though they don't have a legal duty to do so.

Yes, you can contest a Will after probate has been granted. It's worth considering that doing so will usually be more difficult and costly.

You need to consider:

• Any time limits, for example Wills under the Inheritance Act 1975 have a six-month time limit to contest the Will after the grant of probate
• Complexity of the challenge
• Asset distribution, if the estate has already been distributed it can be hard to retrieve, especially if money has already been spent.

1. Initial consultation: seek legal advice

If you’re thinking about disputing a Will, it’s important to seek legal advice from our solicitors as soon as possible. The time limits for making certain types of claims can be quite short, so acting quickly will help make sure you don’t lose your right to claim.

2. Gather Evidence

We’ll examine the Will and any related documents (this might be property deeds, trust accounts, previous Wills made by the deceased).

If relevant, we may also gather medical evidence about the deceased, to understand their condition when they made the Will. This would be particularly important in disputes over whether or not someone had mental capacity to make a Will.

We might also get witness statements from those who knew the deceased, to better understand the full circumstances in which the Will was drawn up.

These investigations will help us confirm whether you can make a claim, and what type of claim it will be.

3. Mediation

Most disputes can be settled by an alternative dispute resolution method, such as mediation. This means that you don’t have to go to court, which can be costly and time-consuming.

Mediation typically takes place on one day, with a professionally trained mediator present as a neutral third party. The mediator’s role is to try to help you reach an agreement with the executor and the other beneficiaries.

4. Court Proceedings (if necessary)

Some disputes cannot be resolved by mediation. If this is the case, the matter will have to be settled in court. This is rare, however – and if it does happen, we have the expertise to secure the best outcome for you.

Whatever the circumstances of your dispute, we’ll support you every step of the way – and we’ll give you a clear idea at the start of how long we think it will take, and the outcome we think you can expect.

5. Resolution/outcomes

If you disagree with the decision, you can appeal. This is something we can support you with.