What Are the Most Common Grounds for Contesting or Disputing a Will
Will claim Solicitors, specialist no win no fee will dispute and will contest Solicitors, consider the most common grounds for contesting or disputing a Will
Will claim Solicitors, specialist no win no fee will dispute and will contest Solicitors, consider the most common grounds for contesting or disputing a Will:
The most common examples of situations where a legitimate claim could arise are probably these and/or a combination of these:
Will validity (common law)
• Homemade Will
• Will made when testator appeared not to have sufficient capacity
• Will made under the “supervision” of the primary beneficiary
• Will made under the “supervision” of the primary beneficiary who was living with the
testator and possibly providing primary care (for the testator)
• Obvious beneficiary (usually a child but sometimes the spouse and with whom the testator enjoyed a close and loving relationship) overlooked in Will
• Obviously beneficiary (usually a child but sometimes the spouse) deliberately not included in a Will for spurious reasons
• Obvious beneficiary (usually a child but sometimes the spouse) deliberately not included in a Will for reasons, relating to conduct, which are provably wrong (and perhaps where it is known or established that the information provided to the testator came from a primary beneficiary)
• Forceful and provable conduct towards a testator by a primary beneficiary to ensure the Will substantially benefitted him/her
• Any fraud in relation to the formation and/or execution of a Will to include forging the signature of the testator and/or in relation to the purported signature of witnesses
Wills Act 1837
• A failure to comply with section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 (signature requirements Will to be signed in front of two witnesses etc –
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Will4and1Vict/7/26/section/9)
• Will witnessed by beneficiary and/or his/her spouse (gift void – section 15) –
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Will4and1Vict/7/26/section/15
• Wills revoked by marriage and/or civil partnership and beneficiary who was a spouse or civil partner of the deceased in relation to a marriage or civil partnership which is dissolved, annulled or revoked is deemed to have predeceased (see sections 18, 18A, 18B, 18C, 18D and 18E of the Wills Act 1837 in general)
Financial provision claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975
• A testator making no or no substantial provision for his/her dependent children and/or spouse
• A testator making no or no substantial provision for his/her dependent(s) with whom he was living immediately before his death
• A testator making no or no substantial provision for his/her partner and with whom he/she was living with immediately before death
• A testator making no or no substantial provision for his/her vulnerable child to include an adult child with financial and/or health issues
• Where no Will so that the rules of intestacy apply – they not catering for situations such as those referred to above
Property deemed to no longer form a part of the deceased’s estate – Estoppel and Constructive Trust
• Substantially paying for and/or contributing to the purchase price of property can lead to ownership of some or all of it by someone other than the named owner/testator
• A promise by the testator/owner of land to leave that land to an individual who altered his/her position and substantially to his/her detriment (where the promise is not subsequently fulfilled by Will) can lead to the Court stepping in to adjust the formal property title and/or remove it from the deceased’s estate and/or otherwise provide compensation from the deceased’s estate
Administration failures
• Executor not acting impartially resulting in substantial identifiable losses to a beneficiary
• Executor not distributing the assets of an estate in accordance with the terms of a Will and/or under the rules of intestacy
Claims against the Will writer (Solicitor negligence claims)
• Will not made in time (before the death of the testator – disappointed beneficiary can sue the Solicitor)
• Will not reflecting testator’s wishes (revocation claim and/or claim against Solicitor possible)
• Solicitor failing to ensure that title to jointly held property is severed causing a substantial part to fall outside of the deceased’s estate and not dealt with under the terms of the deceased’s last Will
If you consider any of these facts and matters are of interest, are likely to apply to you, or you would like to ask us for more information about our no win no fee arrangement, or you simply want us to assess your claim, then please do not hesitate to contact us for a confidential no strings chat and/or visit us at https://www.willclaim.com/.
We provide details about our no win no fee arrangements at https://www.willclaim.com/no-win-no-fee/.