A common enquiry that we receive from disappointed family members who want to contest a will is “how can I stop a grant of probate”?

What is a Grant of Probate?

When someone dies, if that person made a will; it is the responsibility of the executor named in the will to administer the estate. This basically involves collecting in the estate assets, paying any estate debts and distributing the estate to the named beneficiaries under the will. In most cases, the executor will require a Grant of Probate to administer the estate.

If there is no will, the Intestacy Rules will dictate who has responsibility for administering the estate and that person will need to obtain a Grant of Letters of Administration as opposed to a Grant of Probate to administer the estate.

How do you stop probate?

If there is a potential will dispute, the party wishing to contest the will would obviously want to delay the administration of the estate whilst they investigate whether they can challenge a will/make a will dispute claim.

A caveat (which is a formal document lodged at the Probate Registry) temporarily delays the estate administration of the estate by stopping a Grant of Probate/Grant of Letters of Administration being entered.

A caveat can be lodged if there are genuine concerns about the validity of a will, perhaps because the testator lacked testamentary capacity. Occasionally, the caveat process is sometimes abused and caveats are sometimes lodged when parties have no right to do so. We often see parties who don’t have any grounds to contest a will lodging caveats simply because they feel a sense of injustice from being excluded from a will or because they feel that the will is “unfair”. Of course, this is not a valid reason to contest a will or indeed to lodge a caveat.

A caveat will remain in force for 6 months until it is extended, or removed.

Will my caveat be removed?

If the executor/personal representative wants to object to the caveat, they may issue a Warning off Notice.  If you wish to keep the caveat in place, you then have to submit an Appearance to the Probate Registry within 14 days which means providing further details or your dispute and setting out your interest in the estate.

If an Appearance is entered, the Caveat will remain in place until it is removed by agreement of the parties or by order of the Court. If no appearance is lodged, the Caveat is removed automatically.

Caveats should not be used by a party contemplating a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (“the Act”). Commencing a claim under the Act is not a challenge to the Will itself but to the distribution of the estate. If a party considering a claim under the Act lodges a caveat, this would be an abuse of process and the caveat would be removed with likely costs consequences for the party lodging the Caveat. 

If you have concerns about the validity of a will and/or if you have entered a caveat, or if you are an executor faced with the entry of a caveat, you should take advice from a contentious probate solicitor.

Please contact our will dispute solicitors on 01902 424927 for an initial free consultation. We can often act for clients on a no win no fee basis.

Alternatively, please e-mail us at contentiousprobate@georgegreen.co.uk providing a brief summary of the issues you wish to discuss with us, along with your contact details.