We offer a popular free consultation service, and receive enquiries from hundreds of people every month. The questions we are asked are wide-ranging, but one of the most common queries is, ‘What does it cost to bring an inheritance claim?’
The answer to that question inevitably varies from claim to claim, and is highly dependent on the unique facts of each individual case. Where the case in funded privately, our charges are calculated according to the hourly rate of the lawyer who does the work and the amount of time it takes. We will be happy to provide you with an estimate of our likely costs once we have assessed the case, which we can do free of charge. However, we are often able to deal with Inheritance Act claims on a No Win, No Fee basis, and that has a huge impact on what it costs to make a claim.
In basic terms, No Win, No Fee means that if you do not win your case then you do not have to pay us for the work we undertake for you. If you win your case, then legal costs do become payable, but our clients are generally able to fund these from the money they receive from the deceased’s estate.
We are also often able to recover a proportion of the legal costs from the estate, which can significantly ease the burden.
No Win, No Fee legal costs will generally include a ‘success fee’ when dealt with under a Conditional Fee Agreement. A success fee is a fee the solicitor receives in recompense for having taken the risk of losing the case not being paid. Although success fees are not generally recoverable in litigation, we can include the success fee as part of an Inheritance Act claim.
This approach is based on a court decision where a claimant succeeded in recovering a success fee from the deceased’s estate having pursued an Inheritance Act claim on a No Win, No Fee basis. The claimant in that case had been estranged from her family and was financially dependent on her father whose will failed to make reasonable financial provision for her. She therefore made an Inheritance Act claim, which included a claim for the success fee she would become liable to pay if she won.
The High Court allowed her to recover part of the success fee from her father’s estate, and when this judgment was reviewed by the Court of Appeal that decision was upheld. The judges reasoned that the success fee was a debt impacting the claimant’s financial needs and it was therefore legitimate to include it as part of the reasonable provision claim under the Inheritance Act.
So, when considering the question, ‘What does it cost to bring an inheritance claim?’ it is important to take into account the way the case is funded. And where it is funded on a No Win, No Fee basis, to factor in the ability to recover costs, including success fees, from the estate.