Contesting a will after probate granted

Hello, I am Gemma, a friendly legal assistant here at Lawyer Destroyer. I can certainly help you understand the rules around contesting a will in England and Wales.

The short answer is yes, you can still contest a will after the grant of probate has been issued. However, it is much better to act as quickly as possible because the executor now has the legal authority to start giving away the estate assets to the beneficiaries.

Understanding your grounds:

The way you move forward depends on why you want to contest the will. There are generally two different legal routes.

The first route is challenging the validity of the will itself. This means you believe the document should be cancelled entirely. Common reasons for this include a belief that the person who died did not have the mental capacity to understand what they were signing, that they were pressured or manipulated into making the will, that the will was forged, or that it was not signed and witnessed correctly according to the law.

The second route is making a claim because the will does not make reasonable financial provision for you. This is done under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. This option is for people like spouses, children, or people who were financially reliant on the deceased, who feel they have been left without enough money to meet their everyday needs.

Time limits you need to know:

For a claim that the will does not provide for you financially under the Inheritance Act, you have exactly six months from the date the grant of probate was issued to start court proceedings. This is a very strict deadline.

If you are challenging the overall validity of the will, there is technically no strict time limit for fraud, and a 12-year limit for recovering a legacy. However, from a practical standpoint, any delay can be fatal to your case. If the executor hands over the money and property to the beneficiaries, it can be incredibly difficult, expensive, and sometimes impossible to trace and recover those assets.

Practical next steps:

1. Get a copy of the will and the grant of probate. Since probate has been granted, these are now public documents. You can easily search for and download them from the government Find a Will service online for a small fee.

2. Warn the executors immediately. You should write a clear letter to the named executors straight away. Explain that you are contesting the will and ask them to confirm in writing that they will not distribute any of the estate assets while the dispute is ongoing. If they ignore this warning and give the assets away, they can be held personally financially responsible later.

3. Gather your evidence. Start collecting proof to support your specific claim. If you are arguing a lack of mental capacity, this might involve tracking down medical records or gathering witness statements from people who saw the deceased around the time the will was signed. If you are making a claim for financial provision, you will need to organise your own bank statements and living costs to show exactly why you need the money.

4. Try negotiation or mediation. Going to court over a will is deeply stressful, takes a very long time, and the legal costs can completely drain the estate you are fighting over. It is usually best to try and reach an agreement with the executors and beneficiaries out of court. A trained mediator can help everyone sit together and find a sensible compromise without destroying family relationships.

5. Court action as a last resort. If the executors refuse to pause the distribution of the estate, or if nobody will agree to talk, you may need to issue formal court proceedings. If they are threatening to empty the estate bank accounts right now, you might even need to ask a judge for an emergency injunction to freeze the estate, though this brings considerable financial risks.

Because probate has already been granted, the clock is ticking and the assets are at risk of being moved. Please let me know if you would like me to explain any of these options in more detail.