Q&As

Once proceedings have been commenced, an unsuccessful party in litigation can recover costs from the estate for investigating the validity of a Will where the fault lies with the testator. Can a party recover their costs for investigating a Will if they then give up before issuing a claim because they find insufficient evidence or evidence which undermines their position?

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Produced in partnership with Lynne Counsell of Addington Chambers
Published on: 01 September 2021
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Costs of investigating the validity of a Will

There are various costs that might be incurred in investigating the validity of a Will prior to the issue of proceedings. In addition to the usual costs of correspondence and conferences, there are specific costs which can arise in a potential contentious Probate claim. These include:

  1. ā€¢

    the entry of a caveat. This is a notice in writing that no grant is to be sealed in the estate of the deceased without notice to the Caveator (section 108 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 (SCA 1981)) and the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, SI 1987/2024, r 44. The purpose of the caveat is to enable a person to investigate the validity of the

Lynne Counsell
Lynne Counsell

Barrister, Addington Chambers

Lynne has been in traditional Chancery practice for some thirty years, specialising in probate matters, construction of wills and trusts and also financial services and drafting.

Lynne was for some years counsel for Tower Hamlets, representing them on landlord and tenant cases and counsel for Bedford Building Society representing it on mortgage cases.

Lynne has written or updated over fifty books, including writing the initial volume of Atkinā€™s Court Forms ā€œFinancial Servicesā€ and updating Halsburyā€™s Laws on Injunctions. Lynne was also co-author of two editions of ā€œInsider Tradingā€ and co-editor and one of the writers of ā€œChancery Practice and Procedure.ā€

Articles include ā€œMarketing of Investmentsā€ for the Law Society Gazette and ā€œThe Doctrine of Mutual Willsā€ for the Trust Quarterly Review. Lynne won one of the few cases on mutual wills in the last fifty years ā€“ Charles v Fraser (2010).

Lynne has drafted the standard unit trust for the government of Nigeria, the rules and related documentation for various building societies and clubs, shareholder agreements, company takeovers compliance documentation for certain banks as well as wills and trusts.

Lynne was awarded the 2017 Corporate international Magazine Global Award ā€“ ā€œInvestment Contracts Barrister of the Year in Englandā€.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Costs definition
What does Costs mean?

Money ordered to be paid by one party to another in respect of the costs incurred in the course of litigation, in bringing or defending a claim.

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