legal aid for contesting a will

masters02

Hi,

I am planning to contest my father's will on the grounds of unreasonable financial provision. I am 25 and unemployed, and was wondering whether I could apply for legal aid in order to seek advice from a solicitor. From the little research that I have done, it seems like for my case it might be quite difficult to get legal aid. May someone shed some light on this? Thank you!

James_B.

Until someone better qualified offers better opinion, no, the state will not pay for you to contest a will. If you feel that someone has been unfairly left out, you are free to pay them from your share, though.

If someone has a strong legal case, then a solicitor may well take it on a no-win no-fee basis, but that's likely the only route.

On what grounds would you say that it is unreasonable, by way? A person can leave their offspring zero should they choose, in general.

McKneff

I have to agree with Jamesb, you have no chance at all of getting legal aid.


As much as I sympathise with you, you don't have any chance of winning contesting your father 's will.


You were not dependant on him and he can leave his assets to anyone he wants.


You really need to move on, much as it hurts or annoys.

TELLIT01

Unless you are trying to prove that somebody had undue influence over your father ie. that he was not mentally competent to make his will, you have no right to anything from that will. It is entirely the right of the individual making the will to decide who gets what.

p00hsticks

McKneff wrote: »

You were not dependant on him and he can leave his assets to anyone he wants.

I'm not sure the OP has provided enough info for you to say this - if they were still living at home with the father rent free and/or the father had been giving the OP money regularly then I think there would potentially be an argument that they were financially dependent on him

But I agree that they wouldn't get legal aid to contest the will

rogerblack

Also - is OP in scotland or englans.

TELLIT01

I would have thought 'financial dependency' could only be claimed if the OP was disabled. A person of 25 and able bodied would have a hard time explaining why they were still financially dependent.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

The only people who win when contesting wills are the solicitors.

Any estate will soon be spent by the solicitors on legal bills.

masters02

Thanks for all the responses, much appreciated.

I am in England, and I am considering contesting my father's will under the inheritance act, on grounds that he had never provided for me and promised me twice in my teenage years that he would make sure I was financially "well taken care of" when he would pass away. He left me 25k from his net estate of over a million pounds.

The general consensus on this thread seems to be that legal aid will not be available for me. Is that because it is not available for contesting wills, or because my case is not a strong one?

corbyboy

Why can't you pay for a solicitor out of the 25k?

Many would argue that 25k is "well taken care of."

PasturesNew

Who got the rest then - and why did you only get £25k?