Newcastle-based law firm, Sintons, is home to the region's largest team of lawyers dedicated to resolving wills, trusts and estates disputes. Headed up by partner, Emma Saunders, the team is also one of the most highly rated in the North, receiving a top tier ranking in both Chambers and the Legal 500.
Here, Emma shares an insight into how a wills, trusts and estates dispute can arise, and how she and her colleagues can help people resolve them.
My colleagues and I specialise in helping people resolve disputes which occur at what can be one of the most difficult times in their life – after the death of a family member or loved one.
The reality is that this type of issue can touch anybody’s life, and this is reflected in the huge range of people we work with: everyone from business owners through to farming families; and from people wanting to challenge a will through to people defending a claim.
Challenging a will
One of the most common issues we deal with is when someone wants to challenge the validity of a will. This can happen in any family but often where people have re-married or when there are children, halfsiblings and step-siblings involved.
Disputes can happen even when a married couple has each made a will. I’ll share a theoretical example: a married couple have both been married before and each have children from their previous marriage. They make wills which specify that on the first person’s death, their assets go to their spouse. And on the second person’s death, the assets are split between all the children.
The problem is that, after the first death, the surviving spouse can change their will and this could result in the children of the first spouse being excluded.
In a situation like this we can help you understand whether there are grounds to make a challenge – for example, if someone has been unduly influenced to change their will.
Disputes about business assets
I deal with many cases where business assets form part of the estate and this can cause additional complications. With assistance from our corporate team we can advise on the particular issues that arise should there be a disagreement between beneficiaries of the will as to how such assets should be shared out.
Assets can also include land and this is something we often see in rural areas, where families may own farmland of significant value.
If you’re caught up in a dispute like this we can help you understand what’s realistic, what the best route for you to take is, and we can manage negotiations between the parties to the dispute. This often means we can reach an agreement without needing to go to court.
Inheritance Act claims
The Inheritance Act lays out the right for ‘reasonable provision’ from an estate. This can apply to spouses, co-habiting partners, children, step-children or those financially maintained by the deceased.
If someone passes away without leaving a valid will, or if a partner or dependent is left out of the will – or receives less than expected – it can be possible to make a claim under the Inheritance Act. If your claim is successful, the estate can be redistributed between the relevant parties.
Again, this is something we can help you manage and we will be able to advise you on how likely a claim is to be successful.
Support during a difficult time
These examples show that anyone can find themselves in the difficult situation of being involved in a wills, trusts or estates dispute.
In the immediate aftermath of bereavement, we know that legal issues are often the last things on people’s minds, but, when disputes do come to light, we’re very conscious of helping people resolve issues in a sympathetic and sensitive way.
Just this year we’ve added two new lawyers to our team and Sintons is a full service law firm which means we work very closely with our colleagues who are specialists in advising people on wills, trusts and estates. They can help you protect your assets and minimise the chances of a dispute happening in the first place – but if it does, we will be here to help.
Find out more about Emma Saunders and her colleagues at www.sintons.co.uk