If you are considering challenging a will containing a ‘no contest clause’ then this success story of a case our team handled will interest you.
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Background to the ‘no contest clause’ case
Our client was the middle child of her father’s five children.
When her father died, he left his estate, valued at over £1m, to his four other children in his will. Our client only received £5,000 and even this small sum was conditional, the will containing a ‘no contest clause’. This no contest clause specified that the gift would be forfeit if she disputed the validity of his Will or made a claim against his estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
In a side statement, our client’s father explained his reasons for effectively disinheriting our client, which basically boiled down to their estrangement and his disapproval of her lifestyle
Our client disputed his reasons and said that he’d always behaved unreasonably towards her and had been controlling.
She strongly felt that her father’s will was unfair and contacted specialist inheritance solicitor Hayley Bundey to find out what she could do about challenging a will containing a no contest clause.
The legal challenge
We agreed to take the case on and work on a No Win, No Fee basis. We told our client that she had a valid Inheritance Act claim because she was the deceased’s daughter and was in need of proper financial provision from the estate; the paltry sum of £5,000 being totally inadequate.
Hayley therefore notified the executor of the legal claim. She also told the executor that the forfeiture clause in the will was not valid and did not prevent her client from challenging the will under the Inheritance Act.
The executor and other beneficiaries accepted the validity of our client’s claim. A mediation was held, and this resulted in an out of court settlement, with our client receiving £185,000. This was £180,000 more than she had originally been left in the will.
