Mediation in an Inheritance Act claim.

[inheritancetrack]

We are challenging a will which leaves the spouse with inadequate financial provision and our solicitor is constructing a response and suggesting the next step is mediation. They will give the defendants a list of mediators and suggested January or February.

However, despite being asked for nearly a year to return copies of the deceased's bank/savings/credit card statements (taken without permission following the death) so that we have a holistic view of the family finances as beneficial interest and proprietary estoppel forms part of the case, they have not supplied any of them.

We do not want to go into mediation (via teams) without this information. Obviously our solicitor will push for this but can the defendants refuse to cooperate and supply what we need?

They have also offered a needs based defence but the figures supplied have been very 'selective' and again not backed up by pay slips and bank statements. Our solicitor has described them as a misrepresentation of their true financial position, which is pretty strong for our solicitor.

Do they have to supply these documents at mediation?

We really don't want to go into mediation without financial disclosures as so much of the case rests on this.

Isn't your solicitor the person to be asking?

Ask your solicitor. You can get every answer you like here but I can tell you from hanging around on the money and investing threads a lot of people talk utter rubbish. Sometimes downright misleading with an air of authority.

If it goes to court full disclosure is required. Prior to that it would damage their case if they chose to withhold information.

^ sounds reasonable I think. I have not a clue if this is legally correct.

Sorry OP, wait for Monday, this is not where ‘opinion’ matters.

@Peakedtoosoon

Isn't your solicitor the person to be asking?

Solicitor is on holiday until the new year. For emergencies the partner will deal with things, but at £350 an hour we would prefer not to ask questions which we will get an answer to in a couple of weeks time.

@Dindundundundeeer See above re solicitor. We were just hoping someone else had experience of mediation and could give their views as the waiting is hard and we need these documents to help our case.

I know it’s hard, but as a qualified professional in a technical area, the rubbish I read on here is concerning. Try and wait it out, or if a lawyer shows up (you can usually tell the real deal, but not always) you might get lucky here.

FWIW I wouldn’t mediate without full disclosure being a requirement. We have mediated in a different situation and we were told quite firmly that if you don’t give the process due respect it would not be viewed favourably by a Judge (that came from a friend who is a Judge).

They won't be forced to make a full disclosure before mediation. Remember that the mediator does not make any decisions. No-one will force you to accept a deal in mediation. If you feel that you haven't got enough to decide whether a deal is appropriate, you can refuse to accept the deal and take it to court. When it goes to court, they will have to provide full disclosure. On the other hand, they may offer a deal that is good enough for you to decide you don't need full disclosure. After all, from your perspective, you don't really care about their needs. The question is what was the estate worth and what would the surviving spouse have received if the marriage had ended in divorce.

@Dindundundundeeer @prh47bridge

It's a pity we can't have full disclosure as a legal requirement before mediation but we will see what the solicitor says about making it a condition of mediation and how important it is.

The main issue is a plank of their defence is the deceased maintained financial independence, despite joint accounts, and clear financial interdependence from our financial records, and we don't want a nasty surprise indicating they did with multiple independent accounts we know nothing about.

We are sure they won't offer an acceptable deal as our solicitor has said their previous one wasn't even in the ballpark.

Thank you so much, stuff to think about 😊

I think I’ve read a few of your threads @inheritancetrack . Money saving expert have a good forum that might be able to help with some guidance. I browse a lot of inheritance places at the moment as we’ve been in probate for many many months now and there seems to be a solid base of knowledge and support over there (and here too, but mse forum is more specified)

@Ohhhthepain Thanks, I check that out. I get their emails :-)