Negligently drafted wills, professional negligence and solicitors negligence.
Our team specialise in pursuing claims for professional negligence, especially those involving solicitors negligence.
It is important to remember that a solicitor (or any non-qualified will writer for that matter) owes a duty of care not just to the person making the will, but to potential beneficiaries under the will too.
The extension of this duty of care to intended beneficiaries has been established in a series of cases which include:
- Ross V Caunters 1979
- White V Jones 1995
- Carr-Glynn V Frearsons 1998
Common causes of solicitors negligence claims are :
- Failure to ensure that a will is validly signed and witnessed.
- Failure to ensure that a will is prepared in a timely fashion before the will-maker dies.
- Failure to check a will for clerical drafting errors that could invalidate part or all of the will.
The solicitor (or other professional) also has a duty to administer the estate properly and in accordance with the law. If he or she fails to do so then the executors are entitled to bring a professional negligence claim for financial loss suffered as a result of the solicitor’s negligence.
We are able to deal with professional negligence and solicitor’s negligence cases involving negligently drafted wills and negligently administered estates under our No Win – No Fee case funding scheme.