Wills & probate: Inherent challenges

In brief

• A growth in challenges to wills: in respect of capacity and under the provisions of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
• Bringing a claim: litigation uncertainty, conditional fee agreements and high percentage success fees.
• Recovering success fees: the importance of early settlement.

There has been, over the last few years, a marked increase in the number of challenges to wills, both in respect of capacity and brought under the provisions of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (the 1975 Act). This growth may be driven by a number of factors, likely including the increase in second and further marriages, meaning that testators may have multiple dependants who are not connected to one another save through the deceased; the increase in property values, meaning that many estates are worth significantly more; and the continuing problem of people dying without leaving a will, meaning that the provisions