Can a Will be challenged?
Most wills are valid, and being unhappy with one is not a reason to challenge it. But a will can be open to challenge if the person lacked the mental capacity to make it, did not know and approve its contents, was unduly influenced, or it was not signed and witnessed correctly — or if a later will exists. This checker helps you see whether there may be something worth discussing.
How it works
Tell the checker a little about the will and the circumstances — the person’s health and state of mind when they made it, who was involved, how it was signed, and whether anything changed late in their life. It points to the grounds, if any, that might apply.
There are a limited number of recognised grounds. The person must have had testamentary capacity — broadly, they understood they were making a will, what they owned, and who might have a claim on them. They must have known and approved what the will said. They must not have been unduly influenced, which means coerced rather than merely persuaded. And the will must have been signed and witnessed as the law requires. A forged will, or a valid later will that revokes the one in question, is a separate route again.
Challenging a will’s validity is different from an Inheritance Act claim, where the will may be perfectly valid but did not make reasonable financial provision for someone who depended on the person who died. The two are easily confused, and the checker keeps them apart.
Time and evidence both matter. Medical records, the will file and witness accounts are far easier to gather sooner rather than later, and once an estate has been distributed, putting things right is much harder. Treat the result as a prompt to take advice, not a verdict on the will.
Questions about Can a Will be challenged?
If you were financially dependent on the person who died and the will leaves you without reasonable provision, you may instead have a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 — which is a different thing from challenging validity.
This comes from section 9 of the Wills Act 1837, and a failure to follow it — for example a witness who was not present — can make the will invalid regardless of what it says.
Some validity challenges have no fixed limit but become far harder once the estate has been distributed; a related Inheritance Act claim, by contrast, has a strict six-month deadline from the grant of probate, so act promptly.
Each ground is specific and has to be supported by evidence; simply disagreeing with how someone divided their estate is not one of them.
The bar is high: there has to be coercion that overpowered the person's own wishes, not just a strong relationship or ordinary persuasion, and it usually has to be proved with evidence.
We can review the circumstances, tell you honestly whether there is a point worth pursuing, and explain the options. We charge by the hour with a written estimate at the outset, and the first conversation is free.
It comes from the test in Banks v Goodfellow. A diagnosis such as dementia does not automatically mean someone lacked capacity — what matters is their understanding at the time the will was made.
A validity challenge, if successful, can set the will aside; an Inheritance Act claim leaves the will standing but asks the court to award provision from the estate.
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