Contesting a will on a no win – no fee basis, and other options for funding an inheritance dispute
Funding a legal case can be a worry, which is why we have developed a range of funding options for inheritance dispute and contested will cases, including no win, no fee. Find out more by contacting us for a free consultation.
No win, no fee inheritance disputes
We pioneered no win no fee funding for inheritance disputes and it remains our most popular funding option.
Most solicitors do not offer this form of funding. It is because we are genuine specialists in this complex area of law and have a large team of solicitors who deal exclusively with contentious probate disputes that we have the confidence to trust our professional judgment and risk not being paid for the work we undertake.
We offer two types of no win, no fee funding for inheritance disputes:
1. Conditional Fee Agreements, or CFA; and
2. Damages Based Agreements, or DBA.
While not every inheritance dispute case is suitable for this form of funding, our inheritance solicitors are always happy to consider funding for a potential claim under our FREE CASE ASSESSMENT service.
Once we agree to deal with your inheritance dispute on this basis, then we will not make a charge if you do not win your claim. It is only if you win the case that our costs become payable.
If you win a claim funded under a CFA, then you pay the base legal costs, together with a success fee. We will seek recovery of your base legal costs from your opponent or the estate, though the success fee itself is not recoverable. In a DBA funded case our costs are calculated as a pre-agreed percentage of whatever sum of money you recover.
If you would like to know more about CFAs and DBAs then give us a call or send us an email and we will be happy to answer any questions you have.
Legal expenses insurance for inheritance disputes
You may already have legal expenses insurance that will cover your legal fees for an inheritance dispute. We will be happy to review your insurance arrangements to consider whether your case is covered. If you do have insurance then no win, no fee inheritance disputes funding may not be required.
Legal expenses insurance may also cover you for any costs order made against you. If you don’t already have this insurance and would like to be covered against an ‘adverse costs order’ then we can usually obtain insurance cover on a case-by-case basis.
Private funding and fixed fee limits
Because some inheritance dispute cases are not suited to NWNF funding from the outset, we can carry out limited initial investigatory work in order to clarify the legal issues and available evidence to support the case. This preparatory work can be funded on a private basis, with the funding then switching to no win, no fee once the evidence to support a claim has been established and the strengths of the claim are clear.
To make it easier for you to budget, we are usually able to work on a fixed fee basis where the work required is not open ended. Alternatively, we can set a maximum fee limit, which means we will work to a specific budget and not exceed the agreed amount, thereby allowing you to budget for your legal costs.
In cases where no win, no fee inheritance disputes funding is not available at the outset, we are always happy to reconsider the case once investigations have been completed and then switch to no win, no fee funding if appropriate.
Deferred fees
Another popular funding option is our deferred fees scheme. This can be used where there is a guarantee that you will eventually receive money from an estate, but you need to fund your legal costs in the meantime.
If you think this form of funding is likely to be suitable for you, then we would be very happy to consider the details as part of our free case assessment service.
Contact us for a free consultation
If you would like to know more about no win, no fee inheritance disputes, or any of the other methods of funding we offer, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with us for a free consultation with a member of our team of inheritance dispute solicitors.