Professional Negligence in Wills & Estate Planning Advice

You can make a claim if you have received negligent advice or service yourself or, in some cases, if you are the beneficiary of someone who did. A beneficiary can make a professional negligence claim if they have incurred a loss because:

• Unnecessary delays meant that intended changes to a Will weren’t put in place before the deceased’s death
• The Will writer didn’t properly advise the deceased on how to execute their Will
• The Will writer didn’t supervise the execution of the Will
• The Will doesn’t reflect the deceased’s intentions
• The estate lost value due to incorrect tax advice.

See our Disappointed Beneficiaries page for more information.

A variety of professionals can be involved with Will & Estate Planning. You may be able to claim if you’ve been affected by mistakes made by:

• Accountants
• Tax advisors
• Financial advisors
• Solicitors
• Will writers.

It may be possible to claim even if the adviser isn’t in business any more. If their business was sold to or merged with another firm, we could claim against that successor firm. We may also be able to claim against the adviser’s professional indemnity insurer.

You can make a professional negligence claim up to six years after the date that you suffered a loss. If you aren’t aware at the time, you can claim within three years of finding out about the loss.

Most claims take less than a year and don’t have to go to court. However, every case is different and time spans depend on the type of dispute and your individual situation.

Some disputes can be resolved quickly in a matter of months, but others might take years to conclude and involve going to court several times.

We’ll advise you at the start how long we think it will take. Whatever the situation, we always aim to resolve your dispute as quickly and efficiently as possible. We understand that this is a difficult time, and we’re here to help you through.

The cost of a Will, trust or estate dispute varies from case to case, depending on time, complexity, and whether or not you have to go to court.

A dispute can be settled at any time if the parties can come to an agreement, and they can then decide how to split the costs between them. However, if an agreement can’t be reached and the case has to go to court, the court will decide how the costs will be paid.

How can I cover the cost of my claim?

There are various ways you can cover the cost of your claim, depending on your case. These include:

• Legal Expenses Insurance
• Conditional Fee Agreement (‘No Win No Fee’)
• Payment on conclusion
• Private monthly billing
• Third party funding.

We understand that funds and assets may be tied up in the disputed estate, and we’ll be as flexible as possible to ensure that’s not another worry on your mind. We’ll discuss the different payment options with you at the start.