Private Wealth

Contentious trusts & probate

who should you talk to?

Tailored guidance with sensitivity and discretion.

With an aging and increasingly wealthy population and the rise of more diverse family structures, disputes over trusts and estates have become more prevalent. You may not have received what you had anticipated from an estate, have concerns about how a trust is being managed or be questioning the validity of a will or gift. Pursuing or defending a claim can be distressing for those involved with the potential for acrimony to arise within families. To support you in navigating these challenging situations, you should be working closely with advisers who can provide you with pragmatic guidance with sensitivity and discretion.

Our Contentious trusts and probate team advises executors, trustees and beneficiaries, in the UK and internationally, on the action to take when a dispute occurs over the administration of a trust or an estate. No client or set of circumstances is the same so we take the time to gain an in-depth understanding of the intricacies of the situation. We can then work with you to develop an individually tailored strategy to help you achieve the best possible outcome.

Wherever possible, we aim to achieve early resolution. However, when litigation is unavoidable, we have the expertise to guide you skilfully through the process. Our team prides itself on producing innovative solutions for clients and has the expertise to resolve high value, complex disputes involving multiple jurisdictions.

Disputes with trustees

Beneficiaries sometimes feel that trustees are not complying or fulfilling their duties properly. Such disagreements range from the inadequate provision of information to more fundamental negligence and breach of trust claims. We act for both trustees and beneficiaries in resolving these disputes when they arise.

Challenging a will

Where a will does not accurately reflect the deceased’s wishes, or where there are question marks over how a will was made, we advise clients as to the available options to challenge the will. Circumstances may include an invalidly executed will, fraud or forgery, undue influence, and the testator lacking the requisite testamentary capacity to make a will. We can act in bringing or defending challenges of this type.

Claiming under the Inheritance Act 1975

Certain categories of person can make a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 to seek an order for reasonable financial provision from a person’s estate when they have not been left anything under the will. We have experience of acting for both claimants and defendants in these cases.