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.

Only the solicitors win very difficult

@sweeneytoddsrazor she stayed with them just over 2 months before she died

@YesThatsATurdOnTheRug "you will not win I guarantee it" with all due respect you do not know that for sure. Yes these cases might generally have low success rates but you are not a solicitor (and even if you are) you do not know my case apart from what I have said on here and I will see if my solicitor says I have a good case or not.

OP and Chocolate

The fees mentioned are the costs (many thousands of £) of employing lawyers to take your case to court, plus admin fees charged by the law court itself, plus (maybe) the cost of asking doctors (if wiling) to provide evidence of your mother's mental state etc etc.
You (and Chocolate's friend) will have to pay those costs, not the estate.

If you lose your case, the court might order you to pay all the similar costs incurred by the other side (your brother), as well as your own.

Unless you have very substantial savings or a very high income, these costs could bankrupt you (wrecking your financial future) and maybe even make you homeless. And deprive your children.

Executors normally charge fees for handling all the probate and inheritance tax formalities and ensuring that the instructions in the will are properly carried out - at least £1000 or more, depending on the complexity of the estate.

@Notwiththeseknees I didn't know you could do that. I thought baristas charge more than solicitors? What would be different about a barrista taking it on?

@FuriousCheekyFucker that made me chuckle!

No, OP - the guys who serve you coffee in Starbucks definitely do not charge more than your average solicitor.

And is your younger sibling willing to help you financially and emotionally with the cost of going through with this case?

Your solicitor will instruct a barrister to represent you in court. So you pay your solicitor & your barrister and every time your solicitor contacts your barrister, either in writing or on the phone, he will charge you.
Find a direct access barrister, meet with him, make sure you like him and get his legal opinion on the probable outcome and his costs. The solicitor is just a middleman. It will still be expensive, but just not as expensive.

@sweeneytoddsrazor yes

@Notwiththeseknees my solocitor used to be a barrister

@Notwiththeseknees thank you I just rang somewhere but unfortunately they said there barrister is one who only goes through solicitors. I will see if I can find another. Will they do all the same kind of work a solicitor dies or are they only for representing you in court?

Does*

@Ilovechinese your brothers fees will be paid by the estate as the will is being challenged, not him personally.

I am a lawyer, no I don't know all the details but unless there's something really startling you haven't told us, you won't win. Your lawyer isn't in it out of the goodness of his/her heart, they're in it to make money. We just want to save you the pain, stress and debt that's all.

@YesThatsATurdOnTheRug oh okay I apologise for saying you are not a solicitor. Is this the area you work in then? And so you're saying my brother will still have fees even if he wins?

Very similar case. Estate worth just shy of a million
Second marriage, mirror wills made leaving everything split equally.
Upon death of one spouse new will made that no one knows about until death of second spouse leaving everything to third party no even mentioned in mirror will.
No changes between both deaths. No falling out, lack of contact or any indication given that mirror will had been changed. Main person left out of new will visited at least weekly, took them shopping, did if jobs and had loved and cared for them as a parent for over 60 years.
Took legal advice and told no chance of overturning the will so that was that.

@dontsweatthelittlestuff I'm sorry to hear that. It's so horrible that things like this can happen and worst of all is the person who made the will is no longer around so we can never ask them why they did it and thsts why it hurts so much.

@WheresMyChocolate @ilovechinese there seems to be a real understanding gap here in relation to the fees - the money from the estate may well be eaten up in their fees, but you are liable for your fees, not the estate - you will have to pay out as much as them and you won't have an estate to pay them from. You will not win I guarantee it.

I won't win as I'm not in this situation. I don't have anyone in my family with enough to have a dispute over. Unless we all want the one eyed cat. It's my friend who is in this situation and I've advised her to just let it go. I've been to court in another matter and won, but I wouldn't do it again. The emotional cost is way higher than the financial one in my experience. I was only trying to empathise with the OP because I see with my friend how utterly devastating it is to be in this situation.

Even winning your case will not take away that hurt OP. You may stop your brother getting any money (which in itself is doubtful) but it wont give you answers or closure. All it will do is continue to feed those feelings. That is why counselling is so much better. It will address those feelings help you deal with them in a positive way to enable you to move forward.

What is the estate roughly worth? 1-500k? 500-1,000,000? Or more?

That will help us regarding you.

Have you spoken with her doctor regarding her being on so many drugs? Is he willing to back you?

@Ilovechinese no problem, I didn't mention it because as you say we don't know every detail. I don't practise in private client however I have assisted with Will challenges when I was training. Interestingly I only saw one successful dispute and that was on the grounds that he had relied on the promise of inheritance to his detriment. I am not aware that we have advised a single client to challenge a Will since.

The estate will pay the fees for the defence along the way, then if you lose the estate will probably get 'awarded' their fees from you. That will then be another debt that you have to pay along side your own fees. Like you say if you don't have the money then you can't take it but any assets you have are liable to be taken away from you. The courts are not kind debtors.

@herringbone I'm not quite sure her doctor was at the time as they changed her over to a doctors near them. Though I'm sure I could find out. Should I ring them and ask?

I've little to add but

1. when you consider what your solicitor says about your chances of winning, please take a step back and consider their payments will be linked to you proceeding. I'm not saying they will actively mislead you and they are bound by professional principles though ultimately you will be paying your fees and the executor's fees (if in England) unless you win and are awarded costs.

2. It might be an idea to ask your solicitor what their strategy is and what they would recommend regarding a negotiated settlement. I'm not advocating this but if one child is inheriting everything, they might agree to a deed of variation to reinstate you and your sibling if their advisor thinks they have a significant chance of losing. Is the executor and the main beneficiary the same person?

Good luck.

@YesThatsATurdOnTheRug so if I say I relied on that inheritance I will have more chance of winning? Do you remember more details of the case?