help! contentious probate problem

jasmine

Hope someone can help with my problem. My Great-Aunt died last year and I was one of the beneficiaries. Another beneficiary is contesting probate under the inheritance Act and the sols have written today asking for my personal details and also asking if I wished to be represented by them or if I wanted to appoint another solicitor.... he charges £180 p/h :eek: money which I don't have...I also don't know how much I,m getting as the will only states "the remainder of my estate goes to ...me" .....does anyone out there know what happens when probate is contested ?

Bossyboots

It may be possible that you do not need a solicitor at all. What are the grounds on which the will is being contested and who is the beneficiary doing the contesting?

oldwiring

As a matter of interest, wouldn't the costs of action come initially from the residuary estate before affecting specific legatees?

Bossyboots

oldwiring wrote:

As a matter of interest, wouldn't the costs of action come initially from the residuary estate before affecting specific legatees?

Yes it usually would, which is why I asked about the person contesting and their grounds. It sounds on the scant info posted that there may be a potential conflict of interest for the solicitors, maybe in respect of the drawing of the will.

Katie-Kat-Kins

I wouldn't accept the advice of the same firm, sounds like there is a potential conflict and £180 per hour is very high for probate advice, phone a few other local firms (visit the law society website for a list of specialists) and you should find independant advice elsewhere cheaper. Solicitors will normally take their fee from the estate or for contentious work offer a CFA (no win no fee) so don't worry about having the money up front. Also worth checking whether any insurance policies you have cover legal fees alternatively you may be able to get advice from your local Law Centre or Citizens Advuce Bureau.

Bossyboots

KatP wrote:

I wouldn't accept the advice of the same firm, sounds like there is a potential conflict and £180 per hour is very high for probate advice, phone a few other local firms (visit the law society website for a list of specialists) and you should find independant advice elsewhere cheaper. Solicitors will normally take their fee from the estate or for contentious work offer a CFA (no win no fee) so don't worry about having the money up front. Also worth checking whether any insurance policies you have cover legal fees alternatively you may be able to get advice from your local Law Centre or Citizens Advuce Bureau.

I am not sure if conditional fee arrangements are allowed for probate work.

I am inclined to agree with your view about the conflict and the hourly rate but if the OP posted a few more details it might be clearer. If they don't want to do that then I think the best advice and help we can give is to say arrange an appointment with another firm of solicitors for some independent advice, but you must see a probate specialist who deals with this type of work all the time and preferrably one who has dealt with contested wills as well.

jasmine

Thank you all for the replys, the person contesting the will is the widower on the grounds they haven't been left enough money based on the overall size of the estate... The widower has his own solicitor, this solicitor represents the executors and was the one who drew up the will ..

oldwiring

may we assume from the posts that jasnine is a specific legatee and the widower the residuary?

Bossyboots

From the first post I took it that jasmine was the residual beneficiary. On that basis of course any additional award to the widower will affect her as it will reduce her share.

Is the widower claiming he has been left insufficient to maintain his lifestyle, or simply not enough per se?

If he can show that he needs more to maintain his lifestyle, he would have a good case. If he just wants more then it is more difficult.

How many beneficiaries are there apart from yourself and the widower jasmine? It would clearly be much cheaper if you all use the same adviser if you want to contest the claim by the widower as only one set of fees will be payable and the cost split between you.

It doesn't sound as though there is a conflict with the solicitor who drew up the will so you might all be better sticking with that one. It could well be worth getting some independent advice first though to ensure that the will has been drawn properly.

Do you know why the will was drawn as it was and made bequests to the detriment of the deceased's partner or was this something that was never discussed?

prudryden

If this is a will contest, you definitely need a lawyer - one who specilizes in probate. Just been through one, it lasted 1 1/2 years.

If there is a written will, then it generally can only be challenged on a couple of grounds:
(1) the will is invalid because it is technically incorrect. e.g. no signature, no witnesses or incorrect number of witnesses.
(2) the person making the will was deemed incompetent at the time of writing the will (this is really hard to prove). The court will always consider the person competent unless proven without a doubt that the writer was incompetent on the day, hour, and minute that the will was written.
(3) there was undue influence on the person making the will (again, very hard to prove).

Generally, these contests will be settled out of court, just prior to court date.

There are a number of other issues, generally laid down in case law. I am not sure of the law here whether a widower is entitled to a certain percentage of the assets by law.

jasmine

There are 4 beneficiaries, The deceased's partner,81, : house ( No mortgage value 300k) and £100k in specific a/cs plus pensions. No children.
The deceaseds sister (also her business partner) has been left her 1/2 share of the business.
Me and my brother to receive half each of whatever is left.

The solicitor has stated he can act for me BUT it would be a conflict of interest if I did not agree with the sister receiving the business.

This has all blown up over the business element; however my G-aunt has always stated she wanted the business to be passed intact to her sister.

Hope this helps ..thanks again..