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As contested estates rise, the legal battle tends to dominate the conversation. But for the families caught in the middle, it’s often the financial paralysis that causes the most damage. Steve Gauke explains why, and offers a solution that’s often overlooked.
One of the things that struck me early in my time working in probate lending is how often the financial dimension of a dispute gets overlooked. The focus, understandably, tends to be on the legal argument. Questions like was the will valid, was there undue influence or does a particular family member have a claim?
These are undeniably important questions, but while that argument plays out, often over years, families become stuck. The estate is frozen. Property can’t be sold. Inheritance tax sits unpaid. And beneficiaries who were counting on funds to buy a house, cover a debt, or simply move forward with their lives are left waiting.
That gap between what people expect and what they actually experience is something we encounter regularly at Provira. And increasingly, I think it’s a symptom of a wider problem. Estates are more complex than they used to be, but the way many families plan, or don’t, hasn’t kept pace.
Why disputes are increasing
From where I sit, a few things are driving the rise in contested estates. The aging population is the most obvious factor. As dementia and cognitive decline become more prevalent, so do questions about whether a person had the mental capacity to make or change a will.
These aren’t straightforward cases. Capacity isn’t binary, someone can have good days and difficult ones, which makes retrospective assessment challenging. A will made in good faith can become the subject of a dispute years later, and by that point the people best placed to give evidence are often gone.
Modern family structures are another driver. The straightforward nuclear family scenario that most people’s instincts about inheritance are built around is increasingly not the reality. Blended families, estranged adult children and long-term partners who never married. These are all situations where the law doesn’t always produce outcomes that feel fair to everyone involved, and where claims are becoming more common.
Then there’s the basic problem of wills that are outdated or simply not fit for purpose. Life changes fast and most people don’t review their will with anything like the frequency they should. Events like divorce, remarriage, the birth of grandchildren, or a significant change in assets can all make a previously sensible will either ineffective or contrary to what the person actually wanted.
Plenty of families only discover this after it’s too late to do anything about it.
What this actually means for the people involved
At Provira we speak to a lot of families navigating disputed estates, and the thing that comes through consistently is how draining the financial uncertainty is. In many cases it is more draining than the legal process itself.
People aren’t just grieving. They’re fielding calls from solicitors, trying to understand what they may or may not be entitled to, and in many cases watching legal costs erode the very estate they’re waiting to inherit.
What surprises many people is that there are options available even when an estate is in dispute. At Provira, we work with beneficiaries and executors in exactly these situations. An inheritance advance can give a beneficiary access to a portion of what they’re due while proceedings continue.
An estate advance can help an executor meet costs, including inheritance tax, without being forced to sell assets before the time is right. These aren’t solutions to the underlying dispute, but they can take some of the immediate financial pressure off families at a difficult time.
The lack of coordination between HMRC and the courts, something I’ve spoken about before with Today’s Wills & Probate, makes all of this worse. Delays in the system compound the stress for families who are already under pressure. Until that improves, finding ways to manage the liquidity challenge is often the most practical thing families can do.
The conversations the sector needs to have more of
There’s a tendency in this sector to talk about disputes in purely legal terms, what grounds exist, and what the courts will consider. That’s important. But practitioners and advisers have a role in raising the financial dimension too, earlier and more explicitly.
Most of the disputes I see could have been reduced, if not avoided entirely with more careful planning. That means wills that are reviewed regularly and independent advice being taken where a testator is dependent on one individual. It means having honest conversations with families about intentions, even when those conversations feel uncomfortable.
And it means people knowing that if a dispute does arise, they have more options than simply waiting it out.
Probate is hard at the best of times. When it becomes contentious, the financial pressure on families compounds everything else. That’s the part of the picture that deserves more attention.
About the author
Steve Gauke joined Provira in early 2022 and has seen the business grow to become the leading provider of probate loans in the UK. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Studies and has over 20 years experience in professional services, including senior roles at The Law Society of England & Wales and Kreston Reeves. Steve is focused on ensuring the business delivers a world class service to both its customers and partners. It is this approach that has been the cornerstone of Provira’s success and is the driving motivation for the whole Provira team.
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