Crosswords1 min ago
No Win No Fee
24 Answers
Hi I wish to contest my late stepmothers will, I've googled contesting a will and it comes up with some solicitors who do no win no fee, has anybody else done this, is this a wise route to pursue?
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'No win, no fee' doesn't mean that you can't end up with a whacking great bill for the costs of the person who're you're effectively trying to take money from (if you lose the case).
What do you mean by 'contesting the will'? Are you seeking to show that it's not valid because, for example, your stepmother was coerced into writing it (or, again for example, because it wasn't properly witnessed) or are you hoping to get a court to alter the provisions of the will under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. They're completely different types of court actions.
What do you mean by 'contesting the will'? Are you seeking to show that it's not valid because, for example, your stepmother was coerced into writing it (or, again for example, because it wasn't properly witnessed) or are you hoping to get a court to alter the provisions of the will under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. They're completely different types of court actions.
As I interpret your secondary post, you're not seeking to show that the will has no validity (because, for example, the testator was coerced into writing it or because it wasn't properly witnessed). So you must be seeking to show that the will fails to make "such financial provision as it would be reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for [you] to receive for [your] maintenance"
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So you'd need to show why your stepmother had a duty to maintain you. You can't simply say "She was my Mum, so therefore I'm entitled to something (or to more than I've already got from the will)".
A parent (or step-parent) is never obliged to leave a single penny to their children (or step-children) and they're perfectly entitled to write a will which totally excludes their offspring (or, indeed, any other members of their family) from receiving anything. The provisions of that will MUST stand unless the child (or stepchild) can show that they had a reasonable right to expect the testator to maintain them.
For example, if a student was half-way through university at the time of their parent's death, and the parent had been funding those studies (and would obviously have continued to do so if they'd not died), then if the will left nothing to the student they would have a good chance of getting a court to alter the distribution of the parent's estate.
However if, when Joe Bloggs dies, his daughter is happily living her own life with her husband (and in no way dependent upon Joe) then, if the will leaves nothing to her, she has absolutely no right whatsoever to get the terms of the will varied.
Many people (including me) write wills that don't leave anything to their family members. A court will NEVER vary the terms of any such will UNLESS the application comes from a spouse or civil partner of the testator (irrespective of whether they need the money for their maintenance) OR, where the application comes from another person (such as you), it can be shown that the applicant had a reasonable right to expect the testator to MAINTAIN them.
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So you'd need to show why your stepmother had a duty to maintain you. You can't simply say "She was my Mum, so therefore I'm entitled to something (or to more than I've already got from the will)".
A parent (or step-parent) is never obliged to leave a single penny to their children (or step-children) and they're perfectly entitled to write a will which totally excludes their offspring (or, indeed, any other members of their family) from receiving anything. The provisions of that will MUST stand unless the child (or stepchild) can show that they had a reasonable right to expect the testator to maintain them.
For example, if a student was half-way through university at the time of their parent's death, and the parent had been funding those studies (and would obviously have continued to do so if they'd not died), then if the will left nothing to the student they would have a good chance of getting a court to alter the distribution of the parent's estate.
However if, when Joe Bloggs dies, his daughter is happily living her own life with her husband (and in no way dependent upon Joe) then, if the will leaves nothing to her, she has absolutely no right whatsoever to get the terms of the will varied.
Many people (including me) write wills that don't leave anything to their family members. A court will NEVER vary the terms of any such will UNLESS the application comes from a spouse or civil partner of the testator (irrespective of whether they need the money for their maintenance) OR, where the application comes from another person (such as you), it can be shown that the applicant had a reasonable right to expect the testator to MAINTAIN them.
Hopefully Barmaid (who's a barrister, practising in civil law) will post here but, as I see it, the only possible challenge to the will would have to be under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 and, as I've stated above, you won't get anywhere with such a claim unless you can show that you could reasonably expect that your late stepmother would provide for your maintenance (at a greater level than she's already done).
^^^ While, say, a condition that a person must get divorced in order to inherit part, or all, of an estate would almost certainly be 'against public policy', I doubt that a condition that they be married would be regarded as such by a court. The condition would have to be 'unreasonable' (e.g. by insisting that the marriage was to someone of Afro-Caribbean descent) for a court to rule that it was against public policy.
