Probate
Your will allows you to decide what will happen to your property, money, possessions and assets after you have died. The law will decide how your estate should be split up if you do not make a will.
This can be an unpleasant experience so we can guide you through everything you need to know about writing a will. This may include your funeral wishes or what happens to your estate.
Contentious Probate
The death of somebody close to you is a difficult time but it is made all the more difficult when there is a dispute relating to the deceased’s estate.
Usually the dispute is with another member of the family or a close friend of the family. The emotional impact is huge and without expert legal assistance, the wrong decisions can be taken.
The result can be devastating both financially and emotionally.
The types of dispute that can arise include:
- A challenge to the validity of the will as the deceased may not have had the necessary mental capacity at the time of making it
- Someone may have coerced the deceased into make this will
- A claim being brought under the Inheritance Act by a family member or other dependant, on the basis that no or insufficient provision has been made under the will
- A claim based on promises made by the deceased but not dealt with
- A challenge to the appointment of executors
- Applying for information and accounts from executors or administrators
- Claims about the negligent drafting of the will
- The will getting lost
- Errors in the will
- The will not being executed properly
Any one of these matters is complex and trying to cope on your own at this time is probably not a good decision.
You will benefit from sympathetic, expert, legal assistance.