Stopping probate during will challenge

Hello there. I am Gemma, a legal assistant at Lawyer Destroyer. I would be happy to help you with this.

The short answer is yes. If you are concerned that a will is not legally valid, you can put a temporary block on probate being granted. This gives you time to investigate your concerns and gather evidence before the estate is given out to the beneficiaries.

The legal position:

The system used to stop probate in England and Wales is called entering a caveat. A caveat is a formal notice registered with the Probate Registry. Once it is in place, the registry will not issue a grant of probate to the executors. Without that grant, the executors usually cannot sell property, close bank accounts, or distribute money.

A caveat lasts for six months. If you need more time, you can renew it within the month before it expires. It currently costs 3 pounds to enter a caveat, and you can easily do this online through the government website or by posting a paper form to the Probate Registry.

When you should and should not use a caveat:

You should only enter a caveat if you have genuine grounds to challenge the legal validity of the will, or if there is a dispute over who has the right to step up as the executor. Valid reasons include suspecting the will is a forgery, believing the person who died did not have the mental capacity to understand what they were signing, believing they were forced or heavily pressured into making it, or knowing the will was not signed and witnessed correctly.

You must not use a caveat if you agree the will is legally valid but you are simply unhappy with what you have been left. For example, if you are a child or dependent of the deceased seeking more financial provision under the Inheritance Act, a caveat is the wrong process. If you misuse a caveat to stall an estate for the wrong reasons, the court can eventually penalise you by making you pay the executors' legal costs.

What happens if the executors challenge the block:

A caveat can sometimes quickly escalate. The people applying for probate can challenge your caveat by issuing a document called a warning. This is a formal demand asking you to explain your interest in the estate.

If you receive a warning, you only have 14 days to respond by filing a document called an appearance. If you do not respond in time, your caveat is cancelled and probate will go ahead. If you do respond by entering an appearance, your caveat becomes permanent. It then cannot be removed unless you and the executors agree in writing to remove it, or a judge orders it to be removed. Fighting over a permanent caveat in court carries huge risks regarding legal costs.

Practical next steps:

1. Think carefully about your reasons. Make sure you are challenging the validity of the will itself, rather than just feeling the contents of the will are unfair.

2. Enter the caveat. You will need the exact full name of the person who died, their date of death, and their last permanent address, as well as a debit or credit card to pay the small fee online.

3. Gather your evidence immediately. Because a caveat only buys you six months of time, you need to use this period efficiently. You might need to request a copy of the deceased person's medical records to look into mental capacity, or ask for the file of the solicitor who originally drafted the will to see what checks were made.

4. Open communication. Going to court to challenge a will is incredibly expensive, public, and can permanently ruin family relationships. Write to the executors, explain your concerns clearly, and ask them to voluntarily share information about how the will was made.

5. Consider mediation. If you gather evidence that shows the will is highly questionable, try to suggest mediation or a round table meeting. This is a practical way to agree on a settlement and avoid years of stressful litigation.

I hope this gives you a clear picture of how to pause probate and what to expect from the process. Please let me know if you need me to explain any of these steps in more detail.