Daughter wins inheritance claim against dad’s estate with the help of contentious trusts and probate solicitor, Hayley Bundey.
Hayley Bundey, a specialist trusts dispute Senior Consultancy Solicitor, working in association with Slee Blackwell, has settled another claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 at mediation. Her client, a daughter of the deceased, had been left out of her dad’s Will.
The Inheritance Act mediation
As with most mediations in this field, they can be very emotive – often dragging up painful events from many years ago. But the benefit of resolving such disputes through mediation is that it avoids ‘airing the family’s dirty laundry’ in court, as well as saving the costs, time, and stress of taking the case to a trial when everyone is grieving and needing to press on with the administration of an estate.
Mediation also offers the parties an opportunity to factor into an agreement elements of estate administration which the court might otherwise not be able to resolve, such as transfer of chattels and what is to be done with the deceased’s remains. That was the case in this claim, where our client was able to retrieve jewellery that had been promised to her by her late father, and the defendant has previously denied knowledge of this jewellery existing.
The defendant had previously refused to mediate. However, when Hayley had a mediation cancelled on another matter she reached out to see if they wanted to make use of the available date. The defendant had a change of heart and agreed to take part in mediation, with just two weeks to go before the scheduled day.
The mediation was a success and resulted in our client achieving a settlement which equated to just under 20% of the value of the estate.
Hayley acted on a conditional fee agreement basis, often referred to as No Win No Fee. She also offers various other forms of funding for Inheritance Act claims.
Inheritance Act experts with 100% record at mediation
With Inheritance Act claims it is important to use specialist solicitors who are experienced in how to prepare the case not only to build it towards a successful outcome at trial, where needed, but also to manage the case through attempts to reach settlement through ADR, such as mediation, to maximise the benefit to be achieved for the client financially and emotionally.
Hayley’s Consultancy Team are specialist in managing these cases to a successful outcome, often at mediation. In the last year the team’s success rate at mediation has been 100%.
If you would like to read more about Hayley’s experience and specialist areas of consultancy practice as an ACTAPS member, you can find further details on her dedicated webpage.
Free assessment of your case
Hayley’s consultancy team is happy to offer a free case assessment to discuss how they may be able to help you in your own situation, including the various funding options open to you, such as no win no fee agreements, to achieve your own successful outcome.
Call Hayley and her specialist consultancy team on 0333 888 0554 or email them at [email protected] today.
