Contesting a will help

njjr19

So the situation is a family member is challenging a will, my question is, once the family has instructed a solicitor to challenge the will and the solicitor has written to the solicitors acting as executor for a copy of the will, once that copy has been sent, what is the timescale the solicitor challenging the will has to respond? 

probate has been frozen at the moment so how long could this go on for? we feel like we are just not getting answers or updates giving us any info regarding timescales from the solicitor acting as executor. its like they are not familiar with contention of wills at all. surely there are timescales involved otherwise the other solicitor/family member contesting could just not respond now meaning the probate stays frozen?

Hope I have explained this as best as it can be, its not something we have experienced before and its all rather confusing but we just feel like the solicitor acting as executor is dragging their feet.

Thanks in advance for any responses. 

Keep_pedalling

There is a time limit to making a challenge but no time limit to the time it takes to resolve so no one here can answer your question, it could take months or even years.

p00hsticks

No personal experience but ....

Assuming that we are talking England and Wales and by 'challenging a will' you mean that someone has launched a caveat against the probate application, then according to this the executor can deliver a formal 'warning' to the person that launched the caveat to which they have 14 days to respond, after which if they fail to do so the executor can apply for the caveat to be lifted. however note that it seems that if the challenger does respond to the warning it may result in the caveat becoming permanent   

https://www.gov.uk/stop-probate-application

There is someone who frequents this board who has a situation where as far as I recall a caveat has remained in place for over a year, but it seems that they have to be renewed /extended  every six months

GDB2222

njjr19 said:

So the situation is a family member is challenging a will, my question is, once the family has instructed a solicitor to challenge the will and the solicitor has written to the solicitors acting as executor for a copy of the will, once that copy has been sent, what is the timescale the solicitor challenging the will has to respond? 

probate has been frozen at the moment so how long could this go on for? we feel like we are just not getting answers or updates giving us any info regarding timescales from the solicitor acting as executor. its like they are not familiar with contention of wills at all. surely there are timescales involved otherwise the other solicitor/family member contesting could just not respond now meaning the probate stays frozen?

Hope I have explained this as best as it can be, its not something we have experienced before and its all rather confusing but we just feel like the solicitor acting as executor is dragging their feet.

Thanks in advance for any responses. 

The timescale for a claim under the inheritance provision act is 6 months from the grant of probate. If probate has been granted, the will would be available from the probate registry. 

If possible, try to reach some compromise agreement over the dispute. A full legal battle could take years and use up the entire estate in fees. 

Pennylane

Caveats can be renewed every 6 months and no reason has to be given which is ludicrous.  The executor can be as polite and understanding as they choose with the caveator but if they will not communicate then you are stumped.  

It has taken nearly 2 years in my case even though we have provided all paperwork they asked for and we have done everything by the book.  When you then ask them to be reasonable and remove the caveat they won’t communicate at all and for another £3 they stick another caveat on.  

  The Probate Registrar came out in our favour and approved the application but it has been a very stressful and expensive couple of years.  Totally unnecessary too on their part.  All it did was delay things and made a solicitor a fair whack for doing very little. He was supposed to be an expert in contentious issues.

I am very sorry the OP is in this situation.  It’s the last thing anybody needs when they are still grieving and really does take over your life.  

GDB2222

Pennylane said:

Caveats can be renewed every 6 months and no reason has to be given which is ludicrous.  The executor can be as polite and understanding as they choose with the caveator but if they will not communicate then you are stumped.  

It has taken nearly 2 years in my case even though we have provided all paperwork they asked for and we have done everything by the book.  When you then ask them to be reasonable and remove the caveat they won’t communicate at all and for another £3 they stick another caveat on.  

  The Probate Registrar came out in our favour and approved the application but it has been a very stressful and expensive couple of years.  Totally unnecessary too on their part.  All it did was delay things and made a solicitor a fair whack for doing very little. He was supposed to be an expert in contentious issues.

I am very sorry the OP is in this situation.  It’s the last thing anybody needs when they are still grieving and really does take over your life.  

I don't understand why this has taken so long? Your solicitor could have issued a formal warning, and in that case the person applying for the caveat has to enter an appearance, ie state their case. That then sets a formal adjudication process in motion. It can't just meander along for two years, unless you let it.  

njjr19

so currently a letter has been sent challenging the will, the executor is sending a copy as the family member hasnt seen the will yet so wants to see it but has been advised she can only see it if a solicitor instructs them to send it over. she has now instructed a solicitor so as far as we are currently aware there has been no caveat issued.

the executor has told us that probate has been frozen based on the letter from the family members solicitor, we are querying this as surely they cant freeze probate without a caveat being issued?

also the 6mths probate comes to an end on the 17th september, does this mean if a caveat isnt issued before this date then the family member is out of the timeframe to make a claim.


***slight bit of backstory.... if we felt this family member was entitled then we would fully cooperate, however this estranged daughter of our relative hasnt spoken to her mum for 20yrs and wanted nothing to do with her, she has never been on the will for over 20years so we feel she doesnt really have a case. this woman rang up the solicitors the day her mum passed away to ask if she was a beneficiary and did not attend the funeral. it was always her mothers wish that none of her assets were to go to her which is why we are getting so distressed about it. she would be turning in her grave at this.

thanks again for any advice...

p00hsticks

njjr19 said:

the executor has told us that probate has been frozen based on the letter from the family members solicitor, we are querying this as surely they cant freeze probate without a caveat being issued?

also the 6mths probate comes to an end on the 17th september, does this mean if a caveat isnt issued before this date then the family member is out of the timeframe to make a claim.

I'm no expert, but these two statements seem contradictory to me. I initially took your statement that 'probate has been frozen' to indicate that a probate application had been submitted but not yet granted due to someone raising a caveat.

But your second paragraph suggests that probate was granted nearly six months ago.

Can you confirm which it is ?

If the latter, then if the family member in question wanted a copy of the will then the most cost effective way to get one would have been (assuming England and Wales - can you please confirm if this is the case ?) just to pay £1.50 to the probate service and order one online, rather than engaging solicitors to write letter. The bit about her only being allowed to see it via a solicitor doesn't really make sense, as onlce probate is obtained the will is in the public domain and can be viewed by anyone.

https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

Who is the executor - is it also the solicitor involved ?

njjr19

sorry its very confusing, so we only found out there was such a thing as a "caveat" today, we havent actually been told if a caveat has been issued, just that this family members solicitor has been in touch challenging the will. probate started on the 17th march this year so on saturday that will be 6mths. so no funds have been distributed to the beneficiaries yet, its being held by the executor.

however the deceased's solicitor who is also executor told us 5 weeks before the end of the 6mths that probate is now frozen due to this letter being received from the family members solicitor.

p00hsticks

njjr19 said:

sorry its very confusing, so we only found out there was such a thing as a "caveat" today, we havent actually been told if a caveat has been issued, just that this family members solicitor has been in touch challenging the will. probate started on the 17th march this year so on saturday that will be 6mths. so no funds have been distributed to the beneficiaries yet, its being held by the executor.

however the deceased's solicitor who is also executor told us 5 weeks before the end of the 6mths that probate is now frozen due to this letter being received from the family members solicitor.

Which country are we talking about here ?

You need to establish from the executor exactly what they mean by 'probate has been frozen' and 'probate started on 17th March' . Was 17th March when they submitted the application and it still hasn't been granted ? Or is that the date it was granted ?

You can use the link in my previous post yourself to see if probate has already been granted and if so on what date.

If probate has already been granted it may be that rather than 'probate being frozen' the executor means that they are going to delay distributing the estate until the challenge has been addressed. 

njjr19

we are in the uk, probate was granted on the 17th march and the 6mths ends on 17th september. the executors exact wording was that "probate is at a standstill"

so how long can we be stuck at this "standstill" do you have any idea on timescales there?

thanks again