How to Contest a Will: Grounds, Time Limits and Costs

Reviewed 30 October 2026 · England and Wales · General information, not legal advice

A will can be contested by challenging whether it is valid, or by claiming reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance Act 1975 within six months of the grant of probate. Most disputes settle, but the costs are high.

You can contest a will in England and Wales in two quite different ways: by arguing that the will is not valid, so that an earlier will or the intestacy rules apply instead, or by accepting the will but claiming that it fails to make reasonable financial provision for you under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. The second route has a strict time limit of six months from the grant of probate; the first has no fixed limit but becomes much harder once the estate has been paid out. This guide covers the grounds, who can claim, caveats, evidence, settlement and costs.

Two routes: challenging validity or claiming provision

A validity challenge says that the document admitted to probate should never have been treated as the deceased's will. If it succeeds, the estate passes under the last valid earlier will or, if there is none, under the intestacy rules. Only someone who would gain from that outcome has standing to bring it, usually a beneficiary under an earlier will or a relative who would inherit on intestacy. Being left out, or left less than you hoped, is not a ground in itself; you must show a legal defect in the will.

A claim under the 1975 Act is different. You accept that the will is valid but ask the court to redistribute part of the estate because the will (or the intestacy rules) leaves you without reasonable financial provision. The two routes can run together, but they have different time limits, evidence and costs rules. The overview of wills, trusts and probate explains the vocabulary.

Grounds for saying a will is invalid

Lack of testamentary capacity

The test comes from Banks v Goodfellow (1870) and still applies: the person making the will had to understand what a will is and does, broadly what they owned, and who might expect to benefit, and had to be free of any disorder of the mind that distorted their judgement about those people. Capacity is judged at the time the will was made, and a professionally drafted will made with a doctor's assessment of a frail or seriously ill client (the so-called golden rule) is hard to attack.

Want of knowledge and approval

The person must have known and approved the contents of the will. Where the circumstances "excite the suspicion of the court", for example where the main beneficiary arranged the will or wrote it out, those relying on the will must prove that the deceased understood and agreed to what it said. It is often pleaded alongside lack of capacity.

Undue influence

Undue influence means coercion: pressure that overpowered the person's own wishes so that the will reflects someone else's. Persuasion, flattery and appeals to affection are not enough. There is no presumption of undue influence for wills, so the person alleging it must prove it, usually from circumstantial evidence, and the courts set a high bar. The Law Commission recommended in May 2025 that a presumption should apply in suspicious circumstances, but the government has not yet responded and the law is unchanged.

Fraud and forgery

A forged signature, a will the deceased was tricked into signing, or lies told to the deceased to turn them against a relative all invalidate a will. The court expects strong proof, usually from handwriting experts and the attesting witnesses, because the allegation is one of dishonesty.

Invalid execution

Section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 requires a will to be in writing, signed by the person making it (or by someone else in their presence and at their direction), with the signature made or acknowledged in front of two witnesses present at the same time, each of whom then signs in the will-maker's presence. The temporary rule allowing witnessing by video link covered only wills made between 31 January 2020 and 31 January 2024. Under section 15, a gift to a witness or to the witness's spouse or civil partner fails, although the rest of the will stands.

Claims for reasonable financial provision

The 1975 Act lets six groups apply: the deceased's spouse or civil partner; a former spouse or civil partner who has not remarried or formed a new civil partnership; a person who lived with the deceased as a couple for the whole of the two years before the death; a child of the deceased, including an adult child; anyone treated as a child of the family, such as a step-child; and anyone who was being maintained by the deceased immediately before the death.

A surviving spouse or civil partner can claim whatever provision is reasonable in all the circumstances, whether or not they need it to live on. Everyone else is limited to what is reasonable for their maintenance. Section 3 of the Act lists the factors the court weighs: the applicant's and the beneficiaries' resources and needs, the size of the estate, any disability, the deceased's obligations and the parties' conduct. The court can order lump sums, regular payments, the transfer of property or a life interest. The claim can be brought whether the deceased left a will or died intestate, and it is the only route for an unmarried partner, who inherits nothing under the intestacy rules.

Time limits, caveats and standing searches

A 1975 Act claim must be issued within six months of the date on which the grant of probate or letters of administration was first taken out (section 4). The court can extend the period, but only for good reason. Since 1 October 2014 a claim can also be issued before any grant exists. Executors commonly wait six months, and often ten, before distributing an estate for exactly this reason, so a late claim may find the money already gone; the guide to the duties of an executor explains why.

There is no statutory time limit for a validity challenge, but delay is damaging in practice: once the estate has been distributed, recovering money from beneficiaries is slow and uncertain, witnesses' memories fade and the court may refuse relief because of the delay.

The practical tool in a validity dispute is a caveat. Entered online or on form PA8A at the Probate Registry for a fee of £4 (since 13 July 2026), it stops any grant being issued for six months, and it can be extended for a further six months, for another £4, in the last month before it expires. The person applying for probate can respond by issuing a "warning"; you then have 14 days to enter an "appearance" setting out your contrary interest, after which the caveat stays in place until a court order removes it. A caveat should not be used to hold up a grant where your only claim is under the 1975 Act, because that claim needs a grant, not a delay. For a 1975 Act claim, a standing search (form PA1S) tells you when a grant issues so that the six-month clock cannot run without your knowledge; see how long probate takes for where the grant fits in.

Evidence and the process

Three sources of evidence matter most:

• Medical records from the GP and any hospital, care home or memory clinic around the date of the will.
• The file of the solicitor or will writer who drafted the will, requested under the Larke v Nugus procedure: the drafter is expected to give a full account of the instructions, who was present, what the deceased said and how capacity was assessed, and the Law Society's practice note expects cooperation.
• Statements from the attesting witnesses, carers, friends and family about the deceased's state of mind, together with earlier wills, letters and bank records.

The usual sequence is a letter to the executors setting out the concern and asking them not to distribute, requests for the file and the records, a detailed letter of claim and a response, and then negotiation or mediation. Courts expect parties to try non-court dispute resolution, have been able to order it since the Court of Appeal's decision in Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council in 2023, and can penalise an unreasonable refusal in costs. If no agreement is reached, a claim is issued in the Chancery Division of the High Court or in the county court and follows the stages described in the guide to dispute resolution and litigation. Most inheritance disputes settle before trial, often at mediation.

Costs and how people pay

Contentious probate is expensive. Each side's costs in a case that reaches trial commonly run into tens of thousands of pounds, and the general rule in the Civil Procedure Rules is that the loser pays most of the winner's costs as well as their own. Two probate exceptions soften this: where the deceased's own conduct, or that of the main beneficiaries, caused the dispute, the court may order the costs to be paid out of the estate; and where there were reasonable grounds to investigate the will, it may make no order, leaving each side to pay its own. Neither can be assumed.

Legal aid is not generally available for inheritance disputes. Solicitors charge by the hour for most contested work, but many offer a fixed-fee or free initial assessment, some act under a no win no fee agreement where the case is strong and the estate large enough, and some defer their fees until the estate pays out. Check any home insurance policy for legal expenses cover; the guides to no win no fee agreements and free legal help cover the options. In Scotland a spouse, civil partner and children have fixed "legal rights" to a share of the moveable estate, so the law there is different throughout.

Broken promises: proprietary estoppel

Sometimes the complaint is not about the will at all but about a promise ("the farm will be yours one day") relied on through decades of underpaid work. Proprietary estoppel lets the court enforce such a promise where there was a clear assurance, the claimant relied on it, and they suffered detriment as a result. The Supreme Court in Guest v Guest [2022] UKSC 27 confirmed that the starting point is to fulfil the expectation, scaled back where that would be out of all proportion to the detriment. Such claims can be brought alongside, or instead of, a 1975 Act claim.

What a solicitor does and what to do next

A contentious probate solicitor will assess your standing and your grounds, enter or respond to a caveat, obtain the medical records and the will file, instruct capacity or handwriting experts, value the estate and your likely entitlement, and run the negotiation, mediation or litigation. The early assessment is the most valuable part: a frank view that a case is weak saves far more than it costs.

If you think a will is wrong, do three things now: note the date of death and whether a grant has issued, gather every document you have, and get advice before the six months run out. Specialist firms are listed under wills and probate solicitors, and you can search locally, for example will and probate solicitors in Leeds or through the solicitors near me page, for a firm that handles contested estates rather than only drafting wills.

Frequently asked questions

Can I contest a will just because I was left out of it?

Not on that ground alone. In England and Wales you can leave your estate to whoever you like, so being excluded is not itself a reason to overturn a will. You need either a legal defect in the will, such as lack of capacity or undue influence, or a right to claim reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance Act 1975, which is limited to spouses, former spouses, cohabitants of two years, children, people treated as children of the family and dependants.

How long do I have to contest a will?

A claim for reasonable financial provision under the 1975 Act must be issued within six months of the grant of probate or letters of administration, although the court can allow a late claim in limited circumstances. A challenge to the validity of the will has no statutory time limit, but once the estate has been distributed the practical chances of recovering anything fall sharply, so solicitors advise acting within weeks, not years, of learning of the problem.

Does contesting a will stop probate?

Only if you enter a caveat at the Probate Registry, which costs £4 and prevents a grant being issued for six months, renewable for a further six. The executor can challenge the caveat with a warning, and you then have 14 days to enter an appearance. A caveat is appropriate where you dispute the validity of the will, but not where your only claim is for financial provision under the 1975 Act, which needs a grant to proceed.

Who pays the legal costs of contesting a will?

Usually the losing party pays most of the winner's costs as well as their own, which is why weak claims are so risky. The court can instead order costs from the estate where the deceased or the main beneficiaries caused the dispute, or make no order where there were reasonable grounds to investigate. Many cases settle at mediation with each side bearing its own costs or the estate paying an agreed contribution.

Can a will be challenged after the estate has been distributed?

In principle yes, because there is no statutory limit on a validity challenge, but in practice it is far harder. The money may have been spent, beneficiaries may resist repaying it and the court may refuse relief because of the delay. For 1975 Act claims the six-month limit from the grant will usually have passed, and the court grants extensions sparingly. This is why solicitors advise entering a caveat or a standing search as soon as a dispute is likely.

What happens if the court decides the will is invalid?

The invalid will is set aside and the estate passes under the deceased's most recent earlier valid will. If there is no earlier will, the estate is distributed under the intestacy rules in the Administration of Estates Act 1925, which favour the spouse or civil partner and then children and other blood relatives. Someone who benefits under an earlier will or on intestacy is usually the person who brings the challenge in the first place.

Related guides

• What Happens If You Die Without a Will? The Intestacy Rules Explained
• What Does an Executor Do? Duties, Responsibilities and Risks
• How Long Does Probate Take?
• Wills, Trusts & Probate Explained
• How much does probate cost?

This guide describes the law in England and Wales as at 30 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice about your situation; the law and the figures it quotes change, so check the position with a solicitor before acting. LawFirms.co.uk is a directory and does not provide legal services.