Contesting a will

Yes, in three main ways. You can challenge the will's validity, arguing that it should not stand at all. If that succeeds, the estate passes under the person's last valid will or, if there is none, under the intestacy rules. You can challenge what the estate includes, where there is a reason that specific property or items sit outside it, either because they never belonged to the person or because they were later given away or promised to someone else. Or you can make an Inheritance Act claim, accepting that the will is valid but asking the court to change how the estate is shared because it does not make reasonable financial provision for you.

Anyone who would benefit if the will were set aside can challenge it, such as a beneficiary under an earlier will or someone entitled under the intestacy rules. Only certain family members and dependants can make an Inheritance Act claim.

If your concern is what a will means, or how the executors are dealing with the estate, see our page on contentious probate and estate disputes.

The main grounds are:

• Lack of mental capacity. When making the will, the person must have understood that they were making a will and what it would do, had a broad idea of what they owned and understood who they might be expected to provide for, without an illness of the mind distorting their judgement. A diagnosis such as dementia does not by itself make a will invalid; what matters is their understanding when the will was made.
• Undue influence. The person was coerced into making the will, so that it reflects someone else's wishes rather than their own. Persuasion or appeals to affection are not enough, and undue influence can be hard to prove.
• Lack of knowledge and approval. The person must have known and approved what the will said. This is usually assumed, but suspicious circumstances, for example where someone who benefits arranged the will, can mean the people relying on it have to prove it.
• Forgery or fraud. A forged signature or will, or fraud such as lying to the person about a relative so that they leave that relative out.
• Not properly signed and witnessed. A will must be in writing and signed by the person making it (or by someone else in their presence and at their direction). The signature must be made or acknowledged in front of two witnesses present at the same time, and each witness must then sign, or acknowledge their signature, in the person's presence.

Sometimes the dispute is not about the will itself but about what the estate includes. Property or items may sit outside the estate because they never belonged to the person who died, because they were given away during their lifetime, because they were promised to someone else or because the person was holding them on trust for someone else.

These claims are usually brought by the person who now owns the property or item in question, the person it was promised to or the person for whom it was being held on trust. We advise on bringing and defending them.

The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 applies where the person who died was domiciled in England and Wales. These people can claim:

• a spouse or civil partner
• a former spouse or civil partner who has not remarried or formed a new civil partnership, although a financial order made on divorce may rule out a claim
• someone who lived with the person as their partner, in the same household, for the whole of the two years before the death
• a child of the person, of any age
• someone the person treated as a child of the family, such as a stepchild
• anyone the person was maintaining, wholly or partly, immediately before the death

The question is whether the will, or the intestacy rules, make reasonable financial provision for the claimant. For a spouse or civil partner, that means what is reasonable in all the circumstances. For everyone else, it means what is reasonable for their maintenance. The court looks at the needs and resources of the claimant and the beneficiaries, the size of the estate, the relationship and any obligations the person had. Adult children who support themselves can find a claim in such circumstances difficult.

An Inheritance Act claim must normally be made within six months of the date of the grant of probate or letters of administration. The court can give permission for a late claim, but it does not have to. You do not need to wait for the grant to make a claim.

There is no fixed six-month deadline for challenging whether a will is valid, but delay makes a challenge harder, especially once the estate has been paid out. If you have concerns, act before the executors distribute the estate.

A caveat is a notice entered with the Probate Registry that stops a grant of probate being issued. It lasts for six months and can be extended. It is used where there is a dispute, for example about whether a will is valid or who should apply for the grant.

If the person applying for probate disagrees, they can issue a 'warning'. You then have 14 days to respond (including weekends and bank holidays) and enter an appearance. If you do not, they can apply to have the caveat removed. Entering a caveat can lead to legal action and legal costs, so it should only be used where there is a genuine dispute.

If you are considering an Inheritance Act claim rather than challenging the will itself, a standing search is an alternative. You are sent a copy of any grant issued in the next six months, so you know when the time limit starts to run. The search can be extended.

Start with the will itself. Once a grant has been issued, the will becomes a public document and anyone can order a copy from GOV.UK. Before then, the executors do not usually have to show it to you.

Where a solicitor or will writer prepared the will, a 'Larke v Nugus' request asks them for a statement about how it was made and for their will file: who gave the instructions, who was present, whether the person's capacity was considered and how the will was signed. Medical records from around the time the will was made can also be important where capacity is in question. The answers often show early on whether a challenge has a sound basis.

Often, yes. Many will disputes and Inheritance Act claims settle through negotiation or mediation, where an independent mediator helps everyone reach an agreement. Settling can save cost, protect family relationships and keep matters private.

The courts expect people to try to settle and can order them to take part in mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution. Unreasonably refusing to take part can affect who pays the costs. If agreement is not possible, we advise on court proceedings and manage the case for you.

In some cases, for example where children are involved, a dispute cannot be settled without the involvement of the court.

The usual rule in court is that the losing side pays a large part of the winning side's legal costs, but the court has a wide discretion. In will disputes it sometimes departs from the usual rule, for example where the person who made the will caused the dispute, or where the circumstances reasonably called for an investigation, but this cannot be relied on. Offers to settle made along the way can also affect who pays.

Executors who act properly and independently, without an interest in the estate or the outcome of the dispute, can usually recover their reasonable costs from the estate.

Costs can be significant compared with the size of an estate, which is one reason many disputes settle. We will explain the likely costs and the risks at the start and keep them under review.