CONTESTED PROBATE SOLICITOR : WILL DISPUTES
Contested probate is on the increase, with the number of will disputes now at record levels. As specialist Contested Probate Solicitors we are able to use both our probate and litigation experience to help you with your case. We act regularly for Executors, Trustees, and disappointed family members in a variety of contested probate cases. A list of past and current cases we have been advised on can be seen by clicking here.
So how can a will be challenged?
Contested probate is a very complex area, with the number of legal challenges to wills strictly limited, however we find that the majority of will disputes often fall into one of the following areas :-
- Undue influence and fraud wills, these types of cases arise when the testator (the person making the will ) is often pressurised to make or alter their will, while fraud in wills can arise when signatures are altered or wills even destroyed.
- Incorrectly executed wills. All Will’s must comply with the Wills Act. This provides that the will must be in writing, signed, dated and witnessed by two independent witnesses, ( neither of whom can be a beneficiary ) at the same time as the person making the will. If any of these rules are not complied with the will is invalid and fails.
- Lack of capacity of the person making the will. The person making the will must have understood the nature of actually making the will, the extent of the property which he/she was disposing of and the claims to which he ought to give effect to. These principals where established in a very old case called Banks –v- Goodfellow. Will disputes are common when the testator may have been suffering from Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.
- Claims for financial maintenance. These types of claims can be brought against the estate if it can be proven that the person making the claim was in someway financially dependent upon the deceased before he or she died. The time limit on these types of cases are very limited as are the types of Claimant, therefore immediate legal help should be sought.
Other common will disputes arise when the Executor has acted unreasonably, or when the Deceased has made very clear promises of an inheritance, only to then disinherit or cut someone close to them out of their will.
Time is often of the essence in contested probate, as assets can be disposed by unscrupulous Executor’s and therefore immediate legal help should be sought.
Call our legal helpline for immediate legal help and assistance.