Can I make a claim against my father’s will?
For guidance on, ‘Making an inheritance claim against my father’s will’, contact our expert legal team. We offer a free case assessment service and no win, no fee funding. Call 0333 888 0407 or email us at [email protected]
We recently represented Miss B in a claim against her late father’s will.
Our client’s father, who had remarried after separating from her mother, had changed his will twice in the year before his passing. From his seven figure estate Miss B received only a potential share from a relatively low value trust which also included three charities as beneficiaries. Understandably, she was concerned about the inadequacy of her inheritance and contacted our popular helpline with a very familiar question, “Can I make a claim against my father’s will?”
We reviewed her case free of charge and identified substantive concerns regarding the validity of both wills, based on lack of testamentary capacity. Miss B also had a potential claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 as well as a possible claim regarding breach of a Family Court Order.
We felt that the uncertain, low five-figure amount left for Miss B under the final will was unfair. We took the view that reasonable financial provision should have been provided to her as the deceased’s daughter, in line with her father’s earlier wills and the court order that had previously been made in the Family Court. We therefore agreed to bring a claim against her father’s new wife and the three charities that benefitted under the will, working on her case on a No Win – No Fee basis.
Our legal judgement of the claim was proved to be correct. The defendants recognised that our client had a strong argument and were happy to negotiate an out of court settlement.
We successfully negotiated a six-figure sum for Miss B, and in addition we also recovered her legal costs.