Have you ever challenged a will and what was the outcome

[cleo333]

Asking on behalf of a friend who has been left out of a will within his family

What country? Was he estranged?

Uk he’s an adult and had to stop seeing them due to neglect

I contested my father’s will when I was in my late twenties. He left it all to a recent girlfriend. Took years and years. Went to court. I was awarded £80k. The legal fees cost me almost as much. The estate was worth over £2mn. I wasn’t interested in the money. It was more about making the girlfriend wait. Petty, I know, but she stopped me from going to the funeral. I had to prove the will prior to his latest one made me the main beneficiary.

Sounds like hard work but I totally get why you did it . He is one of four children ( now adults ) and he had to be really brave to leave them but it also seems so unfair as he’s been excluded from the will :(

Which country in the UK? Scotland different to England & Wales

Very easy for the entire estate to be consumed by the costs.

Legal advice from a specialist is needed.

Unless he was financially dependent (which doesn't sound to be the case) then if the will was validly made (no evidence of undue influence etc) it will be very difficult to challenge and likely very expensive irrespective of the outcome.

Your posts don't read like he has grounds to challenge. (I appreciate this isn't the question you've asked and I'm sticking my nose in!)
He chose to go no contact they chose to exclude him from their will. There's many an adult stays in contact with toxic parents in the hope of an inheritance as compensation.

My father and his brother challenged a will made by a man their mother was married to.
They had mirror wills, he changed his after their mother died. Property was their childhood home.

Like a previous poster, they did it to hold up the other beneficiaries, rather than from the financial side.

When was the will written?
Is this a parent or grandparent?
When was the will changed?
When did they die? What are the terms he wants to challenge? When did he stop seeing them, at what age?

Did they win?

I think it's cheeky fucker territory to go no contact snd then expect to be included in the will!

Didn't go as far as court, they cut their losses and had 25% of the assets each instead of 50%.
They were more upset that his relatives cleared out the house, threw away family photos and ditched all her jewellery.

Agreed. I think that if you go NC, you cannot expect to benefit from the will. NC means no contact from anyone and anything - including money and possessions. A will is a persons last wishes - and the person who had died has decided to exclude your friend. I’m sorry that they had to go NC due to neglect but why would they think that they would be entitled to anything?

Just to add to my comment earlier and give a bit more context. My father changed his will three weeks before he very suddenly passed away from a heart attack at the age of 56. There was suspicion that he was coerced into this by the new girlfriend. The previous will which was fairly recent, given he had been divorced for a matter of months, stipulated me and my brother as the two beneficiaries. The judge only found in our favour (and more so in mine than my brother’s) because he felt it was “reasonable” for us to have a house deposit. I had to provide every birthday card, Christmas card, text message and proof of calls to show we were not estranged and my expectation of inheritance was justified.

Would I go through it again - categorically no. The legal fees, the stress and the time meeting solicitors and attending court mean that I wouldn’t even consider it and would just walk away.

I work for a law firm who handle these disputes as well. I also had GP documented physical abuse earlier in my life.