Contested probate and disputed estates
A disputed estate is litigation rather than administration, and it is priced and published differently.
What this covers
Disputes take several forms: a challenge to the will's validity, a claim for reasonable financial provision, a disagreement between executors, or a beneficiary who believes the estate is being handled badly.
This sits outside the fixed fees firms publish. Contentious probate is charged by the hour or under a conditional fee agreement, and the transparency rules do not require a published price, so this page carries no market figures.
Common questions
- Is there a time limit on challenging an estate?
- A claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 must normally be brought within six months of the grant. Other challenges have different limits, and some have none, so take advice early.
- Why is there no published price for this?
- The SRA Transparency Rules cover uncontested probate. Contentious work is not within them, so firms are not required to publish a price and most do not.
What would this cost for your estate?
Tell us what you are dealing with once, and firms that publish a price for this work come back with one for your estate. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Related
Part of probate and estate administration. Every figure on this site comes from the published fee dataset.