Private Wealth Disputes – Trends from the UK

It has been suggested elsewhere that this is a boom time for firms in the UK handling private wealth disputes. One recent report noted that in England and Wales some 10,000 people are involved in inheritance disputes each year, and that 195 cases were heard by judges in 2021-22, compared with 145 in 2017. While some will go to court, many others will settle or be resolved through other methods. As one interviewee put it to us: "More cases are settling than going to trial. There is lots of mediation and alternative dispute resolution due to the cost and uncertainty of going to trial."

The comments made by interviewees during the research for Chambers High Net Worth 2024 present a similar picture – this is a good time to be a litigator handling contentious trust and probate matters.

 “Generally, it is very busy. There is a lot of big litigation going on, a lot of big trust disputes blowing up,” said a London-based solicitor. Another stated much the same, saying: “Obviously, this area is very busy and has sustained growth. I don’t see that changing.” Others in the London market suggested that “contested probate work is, in many respects, going off the chart” and that “claims are ever increasing, it is still a buoyant, busy area.”

“The market continues to be busy, and we have a lot of requests coming in,” observed a litigator in the north west of England, and another source in the region noted that “there is a rise in contentious issues, generally.” Sources in the north east and Yorkshire reported seeing similar conditions, stating that “it’s still a very buoyant market, everyone is very busy – there is no decline in the contentious probate world, for sure” and that “work is definitely on the up.”

Sources provided various reasons for the continued growth of private wealth disputes, with some suggesting that increased media attention on this work had been an influence. “This practice area continues to be buoyant and continues to grow. Year-on-year there has been an increase in matters being litigated and being taken to court,” stated a solicitor outside London, adding: “I think the media coverage on matters has also increased, so the more there is out there to read the more the public want to proceed with litigation.” Another commentator said: “There is more profile and publicity on contentious probates, people are paying more attention.”

One solicitor suggested that a Channel 5 television programme probably had something to do with how some people viewed these disputes, stating: “If anything, we are busier than ever. A lot of that is driven by the fact that television has taken up renewed interest in inheritance disputes. Inheritance Wars - people are now more alive to their potential rights related to disputed estates. This is educating people.”

A point made by a number of sources was that some clients saw these cases as a way to sure-up their own financial positions. Significant amounts of money and property are due to be transferred from baby boomers to Gen Z-ers and millennials over the coming years, and it is clear that a considerable proportion of those younger adults due to inherit are looking at this potential windfall as an alternative to generating their own long-term savings and pensions. “The level of business continues to grow. Over 25 years, it’s grown exponentially, driven at the moment by the cost of living and people looking to inherit wealth as a way to plug gaps,” observed a source.

Other solicitors suggested that a recession might be a contributing factor in how people view this type of legal action. A lawyer based outside London said: “The market is still buoyant. I’ve always said this, we are a recession-proof practice area. It doesn’t follow the economic position. If anything, when it is more challenging, we see an uplift in these types of claims as they are seen as a source of money.” In London, another litigator made a similar point, stating, “it is just booming. There is so much work on the contentious trusts side. As you get into a recession period it is quite common for this area to grow. Across the board, people are run off their feet.” 

Ultimately, with people armed with a little more knowledge of the legal system and at the same time facing economic headwinds, private wealth disputes have become an unlikely way to speculate to accumulate. “The general public is more aware of their rights under the Inheritance Act, and more people are enquiring and having a go. That is combined with the current economic times and a lot of people building their expectation and financial futures on inheritances,” said an interviewee.

Taking a chance on a claim might well be tempting for those who have noticed that asset prices – often the value of a family home – have risen over the years. In January 2005 the average UK house price was £150,633 and by December 2023 this had risen to £284,691. In England alone, the average house price went from £158,572 January 2005 to £302,164 in December 2023.

“Property prices are where they are. Families who wouldn’t be cash-rich, they are sitting on properties that have gone up in value multiple times,” observed a solicitor in the Thames Valley, and another lawyer based outside London said: “Even the smallest estates are worth £2-300,000 due to the land and asset prices shooting up, so there is a lot more contentious work.”

“The increase in property prices means that someone down the road who wouldn’t have had a large estate, suddenly their property is worth a significant amount of money,” stated one litigator, adding: “Children wouldn’t challenge before because it was not proportionate but now it is. The internet, as well, with more information out there and AI availability, means there is a quick way to find out if you can make a claim, it is easy to get initial information.”

An area that claimants might see as fruitful is mental capacity. Various sources across the UK mentioned the fact that matters involving capacity arguments relating to wills and trusts were regularly coming across their desks. “A big move is in terms of capacity issues. It is an aging population - a lot of people are making wills and entering into trust arrangements and then losing capacity. How to deal with that, for sure, is a massive issue,” observed a London-based litigator. 

Another source said that they had seen much the same, stating that “there's a growing body of cases relating to capacity and people with questionable mental faculties, and disputes relating to their wills and so on. It's winding up and you see a lot more of capacity as an issue, not just in disputes over wills but in disputes where the party is alive. It’s really coming to the fore.”

Some interviewees also told us what might come to pass over the next year or so. The most obvious point of discussion was how estate planning undertaken during the Covid pandemic was going to affect inheritance claims and whether or not these cases were already coming through.

“We haven’t yet seen the Covid wills. We are convinced the wills made at home during Covid will be fraught with difficulties,” said one litigator, adding: “The ones we have seen are people who have died without plans in place.” Another solicitor said: “The pandemic - a lot of wills potentially made at home, rushed, that will prove quite contentious. People were in a weird mental place or separated from families. There is still scope for those things to raise their head. When people make their wills when in a panic there is a chance for dodgy wills being made or that they are out of date, and people won’t have gone back to them.”

In addition to homemade wills, there is the possibility of foul play from the people surrounding the testator. As one interviewee explained it: “I’ve seen a few domestic will situations, they largely came out of Covid. It created a terrible atmosphere with elderly people, undue influence-type cases are coming out. There is going to be more and more of that sort of thing.”

Chambers High Net Worth features Private Wealth Disputes rankings of the best firms and solicitors in London and in regions across the UK.