Partner and Head of JMW’s Disputed Wills team Alison Parry and trainee solicitor Matilda Hall have recently settled a claim challenging the validity of a will on the grounds of undue influence.  

This was a dispute between two siblings in connection with their parent’s estate and our client considered that his sibling had unduly influenced their parent to amend the terms of the parent’s will in their favour.  The claim was issued and defended and agreement was reached between the parties to engage in a mediation before the court gave directions for the claim to proceed to a trial, in order to explore whether a resolution could be achieved.  A satisfactory resolution was achieved at mediation between the parties which prevented further legal costs being incurred by the parties which ultimately would have depleted the value of the estate further.

How JMW helped?

Undue influence is when a will is executed in accordance with the law, but the testator has been forced or coerced by someone into making or changing their will to benefit another. This can take different forms such as pressure, manipulation, bullying, violence or threats of violence. It can be where the testator is particularly vulnerable such that their freewill has been overwhelmed. The amount of pressure will vary from person to person and will depend on the circumstances of each individual case.     

Undue influence claims are notoriously difficult to prove especially as the main witness is deceased, so it is necessary to have some evidence that the deceased would not have made or changed the will in the way that it had but for the undue influence.  In this case, JMW’s client had sufficient evidence to pursue the serious allegations through court proceedings and in parallel they were able to explore mediation which ultimately resulted in a resolution being achieved. This outcome brought about a final conclusion to the dispute without the risks and significant costs associated with going to a trial.

The Outcome

JMW’s clients said:

“Thank you for your support, guidance, and reassurance throughout”