Contentious Probate

When someone dies, the last thing anyone wants is a dispute over their will or estate. Yet it happens, often within families, and usually at a time when emotions are already raw.

You might feel that a will doesn't reflect what your loved one really intended, that someone has been overlooked, or that a claim being made against the estate simply isn't right. Whatever the situation, you don't have to work it out alone.

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How we can help with contentious probate.

We help people on both sides of these disputes, whether you're questioning a will or a provision in it, or you're an executor or beneficiary defending an estate against a claim.

Challenging a Will

Questions over mental capacity, undue influence or pressure, and what happens to an estate if a challenge succeeds.

Inheritance Act Claims

Claims for reasonable provision by a spouse, child or dependant under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

Proprietary Estoppel

Where someone was promised a property interest, relied on that promise, and the law steps in to honour it.

Get in touch Dispute Resolution FAQs

When someone dies, the last thing anyone wants is a dispute over their will or estate. Yet it happens, often within families, and usually at a time when emotions are already raw. You might feel that a will doesn't reflect what your loved one really intended, that someone has been overlooked, or that a claim being made against the estate simply isn't right. Whatever the situation, you don't have to work it out alone.

We help people on both sides of these disputes, whether you're questioning a will or a provision in it, or you're an executor or beneficiary defending an estate against a claim. We'll explain clearly where you stand, what the law allows, and what's realistically achievable, so you can make decisions with a clear head at a difficult time.

Disputes of this kind usually fall into a few categories.

Challenging a will's validity

Sometimes a will's validity is challenged, most often because there's a question over whether the person had the mental capacity to make it, or because of concerns about undue influence or pressure. If a challenge succeeds, the estate passes under an earlier will or under the intestacy rules, which decide who inherits when there's no valid will.

Inheritance Act claims

In other cases, someone who depended on the person who died, such as a spouse, a child, or someone else they supported financially, can claim that the will failed to make reasonable provision for them, under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

When a promise was made

And sometimes a dispute grows from a promise: where someone was told they would receive some property interest from the deceased, they relied on that promise and acted on it to their cost. The law can step in and hold someone to their promise. Where the promise relates to some property interest, this is known as proprietary estoppel and a claim and can give rise to a claim.

Talking it through

Some of these claims are difficult, and we'll always be honest with you about your prospects rather than raise false hope. Wherever we can, we look to resolve matters sensibly, without the cost and strain of a court battle, while being fully ready to go to court when that's what it takes. If you're facing a dispute over an estate, or you're worried one is coming, get in touch and we'll talk it through with you, plainly and in confidence.

If it would help, you can also read about the work of our wider team: Estates & Administration if an estate needs administering, Advice for Trustees & Executors if you're responsible for one, and Wills & Estate Planning if you'd like to put your own affairs beyond doubt.