Contesting a Will

 

Please use this Resource page in conjunction with our page on Contesting a Will.

If you think that you or a loved one may have a claim against an estate, please contact us for a free confidential consultation.

Anyone who wishes to contest the validity of Will must prove at least one of the following conditions.

  1. CAPACITY. The testator who creates their Will must understand that they are writing their Will, who their beneficiaries are, and what they own. If there is doubt about the testator’s Capacity, then their Will could be challenged. See our additional information about Mental Capacity under our Resources section.

  2. DURESS OR COERCION. If the testator was under pressure to write their Will or to include certain beneficiaries/gifts within it, part or all of the Will could be challenged. This would also apply if the testator was under pressure to exclude a certain beneficiary.

  3. POOR LEGAL ADVICE. If the person challenging the Will feels that the testator was provided with poor or negligent legal advice at the time, a claim for Professional Negligence could be brought against the legal advisors who assisted the testator. However, this would be difficult to show with evidence.

  4. ENTITLED BENEFICIARIES. Any beneficiary who feels that they are entitled to be included in a Will must show that they have a reasonable expectation of being included. This can include being a close relative of the deceased, or that the deceased person made a promise to them. However, this would be difficult to prove.

  5. NON-ENTITLED BENEFICIARIES. Similarly, if a beneficiary feels that another beneficiary has no right to be included in a Will, they must show this with evidence.

  6. FINANCIALLY DEPENDENT BENEFICIARIES. If a person who was financially reliant upon the testator was not included in their Will (or not adequately provided for), they may be able to successfully challenge the Will if they can prove their financial dependence.

  7. ALTERED WILLS. A Will that appears to have been amended or doctored after being signed can be challenged. Again, evidence must be brought by the claimant (the person challenging the Will). An example of this would be that a page is suspected of having been inserted into the Will as the paper does not match that of the rest of the Will.

  8. COUNTERFEIT WILLS. A suspected “fake” Will can of course be challenged if evidence of fraud is available. An example would be where the usual signature of the testator does not match the signature on the Will.

  9. CO-HABITING COUPLES. Where a Will is missing or has been destroyed, it is treated as never having existed. If there is a previous Will then this would be followed as the most recent expression of the testator’s wishes. If there is no previous Will, the Intestacy Rules (see our additional information here), would apply to the distribution of the estate. However, the Intestacy Rules do not take account of life partners or co-habiting couples. In this case, the surviving partner could challenge a Will as they have a reasonable expectation of being included as a beneficiary.

    For those who are in life partnerships or Co-habiting, we are able to create

    Trust Wills that allow life partners to be treated as married for the purposes

    of Inheritance Tax – please get in touch to find out more.

    We hope that this resource is useful to you. If you or a loved one would like to discuss a potential challenge to a Will, please give us a call or send an email and we will happily get back to you at a time convenient to you.