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At Contesting A Will No Win No Fee Workington, we offer expert legal services to help you challenge a will without the worry of upfront costs.
Our experienced panel of solicitors specialises in will disputes, probate litigation, and inheritance claims, ensuring your rights are fully protected.
Whether contesting a will or filing for contentious probate, our panel of expert solicitors have the experience to help you get through this process.
This is a guide to contesting a will, no win, no fee. We will explain how this works and what you can expect with contentious probate cases.
If your family member has died and you suspect their will was invalid or made by someone who does not have the mental capacity to do so, it is important that you seek legal advice as soon as possible.
Contact us for free advice in the CA14 2 area at no legal costs, just a phone call away.
Our panel of solicitors has years of experience contesting a will and resolving inheritance dispute and we can provide you with expert advice on whether or not it is possible to contest a will.
Our panel off solicitors may offer no win, no fee services, so you do not have to worry about paying any upfront fixed fee if we lose your case.
A professional solicitor can advise on whether or not you should contest a will and help you navigate the process so that everything runs smoothly.
The solicitor will also be able to advise on what kind of financial provision may be available if they win their case against the estate.
The following are grounds for contesting a will in Workington:
This is the most common ground for contesting a will. It refers to failing to sign the will before two witnesses as required by law.
The witnesses must be present simultaneously and in person, and their signatures must be affixed to the document immediately after it is signed by the testator (person making the will).
If any of these requirements are not fulfilled, then there is no validly executed will, and all choices that follow it are invalid.
If you believe that someone manipulated or coerced a loved one into making a certain decision about their estate plan, undue influence may be at play.
For example, suppose that an elderly man was persuaded by his daughter to leave all his money to her instead of his grandchildren.
When he died, the grandchildren filed a will contest against the daughter claiming that undue influence was used to convince their grandfather to change his estate plan drastically.
A person must have the ability to understand their actions when writing a will, otherwise these are grounds of dispute.
They must understand the nature and extent of their property. If someone lacks this ability, they cannot make a valid will.
Contesting a will is complicated especially if involves the inheritance act claims as it will require some investigatory work, but it can be done with specialist lawyers.
If you’re interested in contesting a will. In that case, it’s essential to understand the steps that need to be taken and the inheritance act, discuss the conditional fee agreement and the consequences of such action, and probably evaluate your funding options.
Contesting a will is not something to be taken lightly, but if you have solid grounds for contesting one, it may be worth the time and expense involved in fighting for what you believe is rightfully yours.
The first step in contesting a will is hiring specialist solicitors who specialise in contention probate and inheritance disputes, and who my be willing to offer you a no win no fee agreement.
Once you’ve found a contentious trusts lawyer or a consultant with equivalent standing ready to offer legal help with a favourable fee agreement, the next step is to provide him with as much information as possible about your situation, so that he can give you an accurate assessment of whether or not there are sufficient grounds for claims based on your evidence.
And at this point, he will also be in a better position to discuss the conditional fee agreement.
Contesting a will is complicated. The first step is understanding how the case progresses, which begins with filing complaint disputes with the contentious probate court.
The person filing the claim must have equivalent standing and evidence of how they were unfairly left out and be ready to cover the success fee.
The time limit for contesting a will is usually very short. Usually, you must file the petition within six months of the will being admitted to contentious probate.
Suppose there is more than one person who claims to be entitled to inherit under the inheritance act claims and there is no provision for resolving such claims in the will. In that case, each person claiming must file a separate petition for determination within six months of the will being admitted to contentious probate.
In most cases, the legal costs for filing a petition against an estate are around £20,000–£30,000 (plus VAT).
But the fee basis can easily be discussed with your lawyer, and suitable funding options to ensure the inheritance dispute claim can take off.
Considering a contested will claim, it is important to understand how much it will cost, in terms of legal costs and your fund options for the claim.
The most common way to fund a contested will claim is through no win, no fee agreements. The solicitor will receive their fee funding only if the case is deemed to be successful.
If they fail, you do not have to pay them anything.
A DBA allows solicitors to recover damages for a fee if they successfully claim against someone who has wrongfully deprived them of their inheritance.
Legal expenses insurance (sometimes known as litigation cover) covers some of the legal costs of taking court action if the policyholder is successful in the case.
It might be worth your while getting advice on whether or not you can claim legal expenses insurance to help fund your will claim.
After the event, insurance (ATE) can be used as a fee funding option for a will dispute if you are successful in your claim. This type of policy covers any losses incurred after an event occurred, even though it happened before it was insured against.
The fee basis of contesting a will is paid by the person contesting it. However, if you win, the court can order that the estate pay your legal fees. The court may also order costs against a party who has acted unreasonably or without reasonable grounds.
Our panel of expert solicitors handles will contests for all types of estates, including:
If no valid will exists, then an intestate estate occurs.
In this case, an heir could petition for letters of administration so they could take responsibility for administering the estate without having to file a petition.
If you have reason to believe that your loved one wrote out a will but didn’t sign it before they passed away, then you may have grounds for contesting their will. You can also challenge a choice if they were not mentally competent when they drafted their last wishes.
This is when someone intentionally forged or fraudulently altered another person’s last will and testament. An heir or beneficiary who wants to gain more money than what was originally written down by the deceased person could do this.
Contesting a will after probate is not as complicated as it might sound.
If you feel that the choice does not accurately reflect your loved one’s wishes and you were unfairly left out, it is essential to speak with a solicitor who can guide you through the process.
Any person interested in the estate can file a contested probate claim. This includes:
Solicitors can help you contest a will for a variety of reasons. Some of these are:
Yes, handwritten wills are perfectly valid.
The only requirements for a will to be considered legal must be in writing, signed by the testator (the person who wrote the will), and dated.
The Inheritance disputes (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 is a statute of the United Kingdom Parliament that provides family provision orders and other related matters.
The Act also allows for divorce, separation, and financial claims between cohabitants who live together as if they were married or in a civil partnership.
Married couples or civil partners can make wills to leave their assets to their spouse or partner if they die first.
Still, under the inheritance disputes Act, their spouse or partner can apply for financial provision as funding options from the deceased’s estate if they don’t have enough money to maintain themselves after the deceased’s death.
Yes, you can contest a solicitor’s will. However, if your circumstances have changed since the original will was made, then you may be able to have the will overturned.
The fee can be expensive during inheritance disputes, whether you do so yourself or employ a solicitor. You could save money by doing it yourself, but this would only be worth doing if you are confident that the case is strong enough to win.
You have six months from the date of probate to commence proceedings in court against your father’s wishes set out in his last will and testament.
Yes, you can contest a will without a solicitor, but it’s not recommended. You’re much more likely to succeed if you have the help of an experienced professional regulated by the solicitors regulation authority..
Yes, wills can be contested on behalf of someone else, but they may not be able to contest them on their behalf. To do so, they will have to have been appointed as an executor or administrator by the deceased before they die.
Yes, executors can contest a will if they think it isn’t valid.
When a will is contested, someone has made an official complaint about its validity and content. The case will go through the courts until one party wins over another.
Yes, anyone can contest a will.
Yes, if you have evidence that someone was incapable of making their own decisions when they made their will. This may include dementia or brain damage, for example.
A will can be contested if the person who wrote it does not have the mental capacity to do so. For example, if you suspect that your loved one was not of sound mind when they wrote their will solicitor.
If you think your family member’s will is not legitimate and want to contest it, we can help.
Our panel of expert solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and can help you with whatever you need.
Contact us today if you’d like more information about how we can help contest a will-win no-fee in Workington.
Make sure you contact us today for a number of great will contest services in North West.
Here are some towns we cover near Workington.
Whitehaven, BarkingWe absolutely love the service provided. Their approach is really friendly but professional. We went out to five different companies and found Contesting a Will No Win No Fee to be value for money and their service was by far the best. Thank you for your really awesome work, we will definitely be returning!
James ChapmanWe have used Contesting a Will No Win No Fee for many years as they are certainly the best in the UK. The attention to detail and professional setup is what makes this company our go-to company for all our work. I highly recommend the team for the immense work - we highly recommend them!
Scott LawsonFor more information on will contest services in Workington, fill in the contact form below to receive a free quote today.
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