Contentious Probate Solicitors
Our award-winning contentious probate team is experienced in handling all aspects of contentious trust and probate litigation and nationally recognised as one of the leading practitioners in this field. We are committed to guiding you through these matters with expertise and compassion.
Contentious probate expertise
Issues surrounding inheritance, wills, trusts, or mental capacity can create conflict within families, often arising during already emotionally charged times. Securing the right legal advice early on is crucial in navigating these disputes.
Whether you are seeking to challenge or defend the validity of a will, bring or defend a claim under the Inheritance Act, protect your interest in an estate, or have been excluded from an estate, our contentious probabte lawyers have the expertise to guide you through the litigation process, providing cost-effective, compassionate, customized, and strategic solutions to achieve early resolution through negotiations, mediation, or court proceedings. Our goal is to secure the best outcome for our clients, enabling them to move forward while safeguarding their interests and maintaining family relations.
Whether you are a beneficiary, executor, trustee, trust company or charity, our specialist team can advise you on a variety of matters, including:
- Contesting the validity of a Will
- Claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975
- Trust disputes
- Burial and funeral disputes
- Court of Protection disputes and applications
- Estate disputes
- Professional negligence claims relating to wills, trust and estate advice
- Disputed lifetime transactions / misappropriation of funds
- Co-ownership disputes
- Independent Administrator
Call our Contentious Trusts & Probate team now on 0330 100 1014 to see how we can help you.
Why choose our contentious probate experts?
- Transparent funding options – you will be given clear costs information, and, in appropriate cases, we will look at alternative funding options such as a “no win no fee” or deferred fee arrangement, insurance, or third-party funding.
- Expert Lawyers – Our expert contentious probate lawyers have proven track record of achieving successful outcomes for clients in a variety of high value, complex cases. Furthermore, as a full-service firm, we can draw on support from our impressive private client, tax, agricultural and commercial teams and we often deal with farming estates, family businesses and international assets disputes.
- Alternative Dispute Resolution - We encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution and can represent you at mediation.
- Leading lawyers – Our team is ranked as one of the best Contentious Probate teams in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. Furthermore, a number of our team are members of ACTAPS (Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists) and hold qualifications with the STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners).
Key contacts
Sarah Foster
Oxford Office Managing Partner & Joint Head of Private Client Services
Mark Keeley
Partner & Joint Head of Private Client Services
Get in touch
Notable work
- Successfully defending a Will challenge brought by a claimant against his defendant clients. The claim would have meant the defendants’ losing their home, but we successfully secured the transfer of the property over to our clients through High Court litigation.
- Advising a farmer in relation to various disputes arising from the death of his father, including proprietary estoppel claims, partnership disputes and disputes regarding the beneficial ownership of assets.
- Defending a testamentary capacity challenge to the final Will of a prominent Midlands businessman who left an estate valued at £6.5-million. The case was widely reported.
- Advising the trustees of a trust managing assets valued in excess of £50-million regarding claims by the underlying beneficiaries that had led to deadlock and the removal of the previous trustees.
- Acting for the executors of an estate in relation to a blessing application to sell a piece of development land for £19-million.
- Acting for the daughter in a disputed multi-jurisdictional estate. The deceased (born in Italy) had lived in England for over 40 years. His wife alleged that he had adopted England as his domicile of choice and made an Inheritance Act claim against his £1.5 million estate. We obtained witness evidence to show that he had not lost his domicile of origin. The claim was settled favourably at mediation.
- Advising a beneficiary of a £1.2 million estate on the construction of the terms of a will whose entitlement is unclear from the wording of the will and representing that beneficiary in pre-action negotiations.
- Successfully resisted a £2 million+ unusual mutual wills case, where it was alleged that because of that mutual will, our client held his late wife’s estate on trust for the claimant (a non-family member). Complex company and estate issues arose, given (i) our client’s 100% shareholding in estate companies and the claimant’s position as director in them; and (ii) the fact that our client and the claimant were joint executors of the late wife’s will. A settlement was reached prior to trial whereby a small % of the £2 million was paid, including costs.
Our accreditations
We are celebrating another year of accreditations and rankings.
Testimonials
"Freeths is an extremely strong presence in the market: it is large enough to have all the expertise and resources which a dispute of this nature m...
The Legal 500, 2025
"Freeths is an extremely strong presence in the market: it is large enough to have all the expertise and resources which a dispute of this nature m...
The Legal 500, 2025
"The team at Freeths are my go-to for this practice area. Always extremely knowledgeable and pragmatic in their approach and their client communica...
The Legal 500, 2024
"The stand out aspect of this firm is the breadth of experience in this field, with excellent resources behind them. They have top quality partners...
The Legal 500, 2024
"Freeths is one my favourite firms and this team is no exception. They really know their stuff and go the extra mile for their clients. They focus...
The Legal 500, 2024
"Freeths are a leading player in the field of Contentious Trusts and Probate. The specialist team sits within an organisation that is very well res...
The Legal 500, 2023
"Good national coverage, large and experienced team of specialists who are all down to earth and approachable."
The Legal 500, 2023
"They offer an excellent service across the whole range of contentious trusts and estates and Court of Protection work. Always focused on the clien...
The Legal 500, 2023
"The whole team is well-informed and professional. Whenever I spoke with any staff member in this team, they were extremely helpful and genuinely c...
The Legal 500, 2023
"The team deals very sensitively with very delicate matters, they are able to communicate difficult matters sympathetically and they try to reduce...
The Legal 500, 2023
"From my perspective it has a great deal of inhouse specialist knowledge, including a very strong private client offering. Thus the private client...
The Legal 500, 2023
"Freeths has a well-established and well-regarded private client team. The strength of the team transcends the regional offices. It is often involv...
The Legal 500, 2023
Meet the team
Sarah Foster
Oxford Office Managing Partner & Joint Head of Private Client Services
Mark Keeley
Partner & Joint Head of Private Client Services
Emma Fitzmaurice
Managing Associate
Contact us today
Whatever your legal needs, our wide ranging expertise is here to support you and your business, so let’s start your legal journey today and get you in touch with the right lawyer to get you started.
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