Recent years have seen a marked increase in disputes over inheritance.

Often, such disputes could have been avoided had the relevant parties taken steps and legal advice to ensure that their wishes were fulfilled upon their death. The preparation of a properly drawn up Will can avoid all manner of future problems. Click here for more information about making a will.

However, sometimes even where care has been taken to make a Will and proper provision has been made in accordance with the surviving family and friends, disputes can still arise for a multitude of reasons, which is where our Contentious Probate Department may be able to help.

When somebody dies, the parties who inherit the deceased’s assets will normally be determined by either what their Will says (if they have made a valid Will), or by a set of provisions called “the Intestacy Rules” (if they die without a valid Will).

But things are not always so simple, unfortunately. Depending on the circumstances of each individual case, legal arguments can sometimes be raised to challenge the provisions of a Will, and the operation of the Intestacy Rules.

Our Contentious Probate Department can advise from “both sides of the fence”, acting as it does both for clients who are seeking to contest a Will/Intestacy, and also for clients whose interests are to uphold the provisions of the deceased’s Will/the operation of the Intestacy Rules, in circumstances where the latter are being challenged by disgruntled family members, partners or friends.

Examples of situations where disputes may arise, and where our Contentious Probate Department can offer assistance, include:

1) Where there is a dispute as to whether a Will is valid on the basis that it has not been properly drawn up, signed and witnessed (“homemade” Wills in particular can lead to problems).

2) Where the person who made the Will (“the Testator”) did not have the mental capacity required by law to make that Will.

3) Where it is alleged that a Testator’s true wishes are not reflected by his or her Will because the Testator was influenced by a third party.

4) Where there is a valid Will, but certain categories of people have not benefited from that Will to the extent that they would have hoped. Such persons may sometimes have a successful legal argument that reasonable financial provision should be made for them by the Court. Such categories of people would include the deceased’s unmarried partner or his children. The concept of “reasonable financial provision” can also assist in an intestacy situation. For example, on an intestacy, an unmarried surviving partner would on the face of it inherit nothing from the deceased’s estate. Our Contentious Probate Department can advise whether the surviving partner may still be able to have a claim on the deceased’s assets on the basis of “reasonable financial provision”.

5) In certain circumstances, the operation of a Will/the Intestacy Rules can be varied if it can be established that there was an agreement with the deceased that a certain party would benefit from the deceased’s assets. That agreement may be enforceable even where it has not been formally recorded.

The above examples represent an overview of potential disputes arising following a death, and they are by no means exhaustive. The success or failure of any potential claim very much depends upon the particular facts of each individual case, which will need to be assessed in detail.

If you would like to discuss any of the above further, please contact Jane MacLeod by e-mail at jane.macleod@thackraywilliams.com

If you cannot email us, please call us on 020 8290 0440 or click here to send us your enquiry.