Advice on inheritance disputes

[Ilovechinese]

Hi I'm just wondering if anyone on here has been to court to contest a will and if so how long did it take to get to court and what the process is. I'm going through this at the minute (well not got to court yet) but have a caveat in place to stop probate.

Yes one of my family members dud give me some money towards costs and my other sibling will also help. I admit I am angry but how could I not be? I have been very hurt and betrayed by either my brother or mother or maybe both.
I'm not sure who I could take with me to the solicitors (do they even allow that for you to take someone)

And yes you are right in that he clearly doesn't care about family. This is all just so wrong that this has happened.

@Barbarella1 oh sorry I thought the term lawyer was American. What is the difference between a solicitor and a lawyer or is it the same thing? As I have only heard of solicitors here

@beverlymarsh did you help people contest wills and were you ever successful in any cases if so?

@Lailaha I dont know how to contact the poster. I have only joined mumsnet recently (,even though read posts on here for a while) this is my first ever post as I couldn't find any personal experiences of people who comtested wills online so thought I would ask om here.

Op with all kindness I suggest grief counselling to work through all of this.

See in a way even if I do lose I will still win as I will still have the love of my family and my children whilst he will have no one

Well I wish you good luck. I really hope you do have the love of your family because if you insist on following this path, you will end up bankrupt and may well be relying on them to feed and house you and your children.

You children can't eat the love of your family and it won't keep a roof over their heads.

@Rose789 thank you but counselling is also expensive so not sure how I will afford that plus a solocitor.

*solicitor

OP to coin a phrase, you cannot be serious. Counselling - even once a week or more - is likely to cost you no more than £5000 for a year (figures from NHS website). Going ahead with a court case could easily cost you ten times as much, or more.

A lawyer is someone who practices law I.e. has their own case load. I’m qualified.

You said earlier that you don’t care if the whole estate is eaten up in legal fees but hasn’t it been explained to you that a law firm won’t represent you if you have a poor chance of winning. Do you really think that a law firm is going to work on your case, rack up costs and write them off? Do you really think that if your case is unwarranted that the costs are going to come out of the estate.

You can @ their username, which gets them an email telling them that they've been mentioned and a link to the thread, or give on to one of their posts and click on the three dots which brings up the option to message them. That will go to their inbox and they get an email alerting them. (If they have opted in - I think it's possible to turn this feature off)

OF COURSE you are furious, angry, distraught - all sorts of emotions must be fighting for space in you at the moment. It's understandable. But you need someone who can listen dispassionately - like how sometimes, doctors will suggest that you take a friend or relative, because you can't take everything in when your mind is reeling - or at least, I can't. I work in a different area of law, and it's not unusual for someone to bring someone e for a bit of moral support. Obviously, your lawyer only represents you and your interests, but we understand people may find it helpful to have someone with them for certain matters (perhaps not for defendants in certain types of cases where it's likely to be prejudicial to their defence though ) - but take care of yourself and your children, OP: this is a horrible situation to be in, but ending up owing tens of thousands will make a disaster into a catastrophe.

I'm sorry this has happened to you

@barbarella well then that's good if they wont take in my case if I dont have a good chance as I wont be able to get myself in debt and if they do take it in then based on what you have said it should mean I have a high chance if winning. I have already paid off my costs so far and they are happy to let me pay in installments.

The term lawyer in the U.K. means nothing. Anyone can legally call themselves a lawyer. A solicitor however is a protected term meaning you are both qualified and registered, and it is illegal to call yourself a solicitor without those things.

Be careful if anyone claims they are a lawyer rather than a solicitor.

@Titchy, that’s not correct. Not all lawyers are solicitors, but all solicitors are lawyers.

Dear god your delusional. Off course they will take money off you. They aren’t taking any risk and your paying them for advice and letter writing only. Court action is a completely different thing.

I took money off clients for advice etcetera, doesn’t mean I’d take their case to court. Law firms aren’t charities.

should mean I have a high chance if winning

That's not what she said.

@barbarella1 which is what I and the other poster said. She wont take it court if she doesn't think I have a chance.

I disagree Titchy. Many law firms have employees that run their own cases and are very well respected within the industry but aren’t solicitors. Some are legal executives, others have law degrees, have passed the LPC and have many years of running their own cases. They are entitled to call themselves lawyers. Attitudes like yours really pisses me off. It’s not like a brick layer is calling themselves a lawyer is it. I am however qualified.

I’m not sure why your telling the op to be careful, is your legal knowledge superior.

OP Again I think you are misunderstanding. Steff had made this point already but it needs repeating.

Barbarella did say that a law firm "won't represent you if you don't have a chance of winning".
She did NOT, NOT, NOT say, as you write in your post above, that if a law firm does represnt you "it should mean I have a high chance of winning".
Please don't mislead yourself and give yourself false expectations. It's too risky for your future.

I give up.

Exactly @Barbarella1 “lawyer” is an umbrella term which includes barristers, solicitors and legal execs - all of whom have qualified via the applicable pathway and whom are entitled to call themselves lawyers.

I’m no longer in private practice; I’m an in-house lawyer. The fact that my job title doesn’t include the word “solicitor” doesn’t mean I’m not one. And to your point, which I totally agree with, it’s not always solicitors that are best-placed to work on a particular case or to carry out particular tasks.

” which is what I and the other poster said. She wont take it court if she doesn't think I have a chance.”

Are you aware that it still may be very expensive to find out if it can be resolved without going to court? I worry you’re not really clear on how much these things cost. Please don’t go into this with your eyes closed, please try to step back. I know this isn’t easy for you.

She said she will discuss costs with me beforehand

This thread has me thinking; I've never read Moby Dick. Maybe I'll add it to my list.