Whether a sibling is entitled to challenge a Will depends on several factors, including their legal standing, the validity of the Will and whether they have legitimate grounds to contest it. However, before taking such a course, it’s essential to consider what happens if a challenge is successful - and whether the sibling would actually stand to benefit.

In this blog post, Walker Foster probate and inheritance disputes specialist solicitor Guy Platon explains when and how a sibling can contest a Will, and outlines the potential impact of a legal challenge.

When can siblings contest a will?

A sibling can contest a Will, but whether they should do so depends on a number of factors. First and foremost, they must have legitimate grounds for challenging the legal document and an interest in the estate. If a parent’s estate has been divided unequally, or if a sibling’s inheritance dispute arises due to suspicions of undue influence, lack of mental capacity or an invalid legal term, then a challenge may be warranted.

However, before pursuing court proceedings, consider whether the challenge is likely to succeed and what the consequences might be. If a Will is set aside, the entire estate will either be distributed according to an earlier existing Will (if there is one) or under the rules of intestacy. Depending on the circumstances, this may or may not benefit the sibling in question.

In many cases, alternative dispute resolution methods, such as mediation or family arbitration, are preferable to costly and time-consuming litigation. Disputes between siblings can often be resolved through a sit-down meeting with an independent third party, helping to avoid an unnecessary family rift. However, if the sibling believes they have a strong legal claim, they may instruct their own collaborative lawyer to initiate formal dispute resolution.

A claim might be particularly relevant in blended families, where earlier children from a previous relationship may feel unfairly excluded from the inheritance. In such cases, challenging a Will may be the most appropriate form of legal action to ensure a fair outcome. However, any challenge should be carefully considered, balancing the costs and risks against the potential financial benefit, as well as the impact on family relationships.

Is it beneficial for a sibling to contest a Will?

The starting point for a sibling who wishes to contest a Will - leaving aside whether or not there are actual grounds to challenge the Will - is to consider their standing to make such a claim or otherwise their interest in the estate. This is of fundamental importance, as the sibling needs to decide whether, and to what extent, they stand to gain if the Will is successfully challenged (and therefore set aside). How they will benefit if their claim succeeds? How will the estate fall to be distributed?

If it is set aside, then the estate will instead be distributed according to the most recent valid Will or, in the absence of that, the law of intestacy. Neither the most recent valid Will or the law of intestacy may provide for the sibling, and therefore it may be financially pointless to challenge the Will; for example, there may be a case where the sibling is not named in either Will, and if there is no doubt as to the validity of the earliest Will, the sibling would not stand to gain anything from a successful challenge.

If there are no previous valid Wills, then of course a successful challenge to the latest Will may mean that the estate is distributed according to the law of intestacy:

• If the deceased has a spouse or civil partner and no children, the partner inherits everything. If there are children, the partner receives the first £322,000 of the estate and half of the remaining estate, with the other half shared equally among the children.
• If there is no surviving spouse or civil partner, the entire estate is divided equally among the deceased’s surviving children. If a child has already died, their share passes to their children (the grandchildren of the deceased).
• If there is no spouse, civil partner or children, the estate passes in a strict order of priority: parents, siblings, nieces/nephews, grandparents, aunts/uncles and then more distant relatives.
• If no eligible relatives can inherit, the estate passes to the Crown.

As such, this may well mean that the sibling in question is provided for if, for example, the deceased person was unmarried and had no children.

At this stage, the sibling should consider balancing out the costs and risk of litigation against the financial benefit, and of course the actual merits of their claim.

Can a sibling contest a Will even if there is no financial benefit in doing so?

I would suggest the answer is yes. Part 57.7 of the Civil Procedure Rules states that:

1. The claim form must contain a statement of the nature of the interest of the claimant, and of each defendant in the estate.
2. If a party disputes another party's interest in the estate, he must state this in his statement of case and set out his reasons.

A sibling who wishes to contest a Will will therefore be required to set out their 'interest' in the estate at the point of issue of proceedings.

If there is any pushback on their exact interest, then the Court may well consider this issue early on in proceedings. The sibling could face the opprobrium of the Court, given that proceedings would appear to be ill-advised and wasteful. For example:

Randall v Randall [2014] EWHC 3134

In this case, the claimant was actually the former spouse of a child of the deceased, and sought to challenge the deceased’s final Will.  However, the defendant confirmed that the deceased had made an earlier will. The claimant was not a beneficiary under either Will and had not challenged the earlier Will, nor were they a beneficiary under the underlying rules of intestacy, as the claimant was divorced from the deceased’s child.

Rather than ending the claim there, the matter went to a full trial. The court acknowledged that "at best, the interest of the claimant is that of a creditor of a beneficiary of the estate" and this wasn’t "an interest in the estate". The claimant asserted that once a Will is admitted to probate, then it becomes a public document and that therefore "any member of the public has an interest in ensuring that a ‘fake’ Will is removed from Probate".

This seemed faintly ridiculous, or at least specious, as it would logically permit any member of the public to have the right to challenge the validity of a will.  It is also at odds with the CPR 57.7 rules and the wealth of common law. In response, it was argued that the claimant’s interest as a "creditor of a beneficiary of the estate" was sufficient, and that all that was required was a "bare possibility" of an interest.

However, the Court decided that although the creditor may be "interested" in the estate, they had no formal "interest" that was legally relevant. In addressing whether or not the party had an interest, the Court referred to the key touchstones:

1. Whether they were personal representatives.
2. The grant of representation.
3. Whether they were entitled to a distribution of the estate.

This was a strong and common sense judgment, helping to keep the floodgates closed to future spurious claims by opening up the definition of "interest" too broadly.  There is very often a public policy reason underlying a logical application of the existing law.

Based on the precedent laid out by this case, a sibling could theoretically still have sufficient interest to challenge a Will even if they were not going to benefit financially from such a claim, provided they are:

1. A personal representative, and/or
2. A beneficiary under an earlier Will, or via the rules of intestacy.