What Are Disputed Wills?
There are two types of people that dispute a will; the beneficiary who is already named in the will but believes that what has been bequeathed is insufficient, or a person who is not been named in a will at all but believes they should have been.
This is exactly what disputed wills are, when people challenge the content of a will . There are a number of reasons that disputed wills are becoming more commonplace, the major reason is that more people are dying wealthier.
Even though more people are aware about the need to make a will, less than half of the UK population have actually made one. When wills are made they need to be done in accordance with current legislation or otherwise it is not valid, and this is what often leads to disputed wills.
There are a number of grounds upon which wills can be disputed.
(1) Inadequate provision for the spouse
(2)The will was completed fraudulently
(3)No will was ever completed
(4)The will has been lost
(5)At the time the will was conpleted, the deceased was not mentally capable of completing a will
(6)The deceased promised that you would be a beneiciary of the will in return for you doing something for the deceased whilst the deceased was alive
(7)If a beneficiary is a “serial benficiary”
(8)If a beneficiary was not connected to the deceased (for example a charity) during the lifetime of the deceased
(9)Inadequate provision for one or more of the children of the deceased where on moral grounds the children should have been provided for (for example the child has little if any income or savings)
Disputed wills are quite commonplace in today’s society and if you find yourself in a difficult situation where you want to dispute the validity of a will, it is important that you get in touch with a solicitor. It is essential that you seek legal advice as early as possible as this will increase your chances of disputing a will successfully. There are a lot of complex laws and legalities surrounding disputed wills so it is vital that you are fully aware of these before disputing a will. Another consideration is the tight timeframe you have to dispute a will.
We are able to connect you to a firm of disputed wills specialists whom, if you want to make a claim can provide you with sound legal advice.
