Contentious probate is one of the fastest-growing areas of private client litigation in England and Wales. This is a plain-English guide to what it actually means, the grounds on which a will can be challenged, and the deadlines that catch families out.
When someone dies, the administration of their estate is usually a quiet, procedural affair. Contentious probate is what happens when that process breaks down into a dispute. In broad terms it covers any disagreement about the validity of a will, the way an estate is being administered, or whether reasonable financial provision has been made for those left behind. These disputes are the work of specialist contentious probate solicitors, and the number of them reaching the courts has risen sharply as estates grow larger, families become more blended, and more wills are made without professional advice.
The two questions at the heart of most disputes
Almost every contentious probate matter turns on one of two questions. The first is whether the will is valid at all; if it is not, an earlier will, or the intestacy rules, may govern the estate instead. The second is whether, even with a valid will, the estate makes adequate provision for a particular person, such as a spouse, child or dependant. A third, related category concerns the conduct of the people running the estate: executors and trustees who delay, mismanage or act in their own interests. Establishing which question is really in play is the first thing a specialist will do, because each leads down a very different legal route.
Grounds for challenging the validity of a will
A will can be contested on several established grounds. The most common is a lack of testamentary capacity, judged against the long-standing test in Banks v Goodfellow: did the person understand what they were doing, the extent of their estate, and the claims of those they might be expected to provide for? Others include undue influence, where the will reflects pressure rather than genuine intention; want of knowledge and approval, where there is real doubt the person understood or approved its contents; improper execution, where the formal signing and witnessing requirements were not met; and, more rarely, fraud or forgery. Each ground carries a different evidential burden, and capacity and undue influence in particular are difficult to prove without early, careful gathering of medical records and witness accounts.
Claims that do not attack the will itself
Not every dispute argues that the will is wrong. Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, certain people, including spouses, former spouses, children and those who were financially maintained by the deceased, can ask the court for reasonable financial provision even out of a perfectly valid will. Separately, proprietary estoppel claims arise where someone was promised an inheritance, relied on that promise, and suffered a detriment as a result, a scenario that appears often in farming and family business disputes. And where there is no will at all, disagreements can still arise over how the intestacy rules divide the estate.
Disputes about how the estate is run
A will can be valid and provision adequate, yet the administration itself becomes the battleground. Beneficiaries may need to remove an executor who is failing to act, moving too slowly, or labouring under a conflict of interest, or to bring a claim for devastavit where an executor breach of duty has caused loss to the estate. These matters are often resolved without a full trial, but they still require a solicitor who can apply the right procedure, and the right pressure, at the right moment.
The deadlines that catch families out
Timing is where contentious probate is least forgiving. A claim under the 1975 Act must generally be brought within six months of the grant of probate or letters of administration; the court can extend that window, but there is no guarantee it will. Where there is a concern before a grant is issued, entering a caveat at the Probate Registry can pause matters while the position is investigated. Challenges to validity are less rigidly time-limited, but they become far harder to run as memories fade and evidence disappears. In practice, the single most valuable step anyone with a concern can take is to seek advice early, before the estate is distributed and the options narrow.
When to take advice
Contentious probate sits at an awkward intersection of grief, family history and money, which is part of why it escalates so readily. Most claims never reach a courtroom; they are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or a well-timed letter that sets the case out clearly. But that outcome depends on getting the analysis right at the outset: on the correct ground, within the correct deadline, and with the evidence preserved. For anyone facing a dispute over a will or an estate, the practical question is rarely whether to go to war. It is how to protect their position while there is still time to do so.
