Expertise · Neutrality · Discretion · Resolution
Inheritance, probate and trust disputes are different.
They involve law, money, property and, very often, family relationships. Mediation provides a confidential opportunity to find a solution without leaving the outcome entirely to the court.
Specialist mediation for inheritance and private wealth disputes
ProMediate Inheritance, Probate & Trusts provides specialist mediation for disputes involving wills, estates, inheritance, trusts and family wealth.
Our mediators combine substantial dispute-resolution experience with an understanding of the legal, financial and personal issues which arise when families, beneficiaries, executors and trustees disagree.
For other civil, commercial and workplace disputes, visit the main ProMediate mediation practice.
Practice areas
Disputes we mediate
Contested Wills
Disputes about the validity of a will, including testamentary capacity, execution, knowledge and approval or undue influence.
Inheritance Act Claims
Claims for reasonable financial provision from an estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
Probate & Estate Administration
Disagreements arising during the administration of an estate, including delay, accounts, valuations and distribution.
Executor & Beneficiary Disputes
Conflict between personal representatives, trustees and beneficiaries, including removal and breach of duty allegations.
Trust Disputes
Disputes concerning the administration of trusts, the exercise of trustees' discretion and beneficiaries' entitlements.
Proprietary Estoppel
Claims based on assurances about inheritance which were relied upon, often concerning farms and family businesses.
Lifetime Gifts & Capacity
Questions about lifetime gifts and transfers of property, and the capacity or influence surrounding them.
Family Property & Inheritance
Disputes over beneficial ownership of family property where the issue is connected with an estate or inheritance.
The case for mediation
Why mediate?
Litigation over an estate or trust can be expensive, lengthy and destructive of family relationships. Mediation allows the parties to explore practical solutions which a court may not be able to impose.
Control
The parties retain control of whether, and on what terms, the dispute settles. Nothing is imposed by the mediator.
Confidentiality
Mediation takes place privately rather than through a public trial, which can matter greatly in family and private wealth disputes.
Cost
Contested probate and trust litigation can consume a substantial proportion of the assets in dispute.
Flexible solutions
Settlements can potentially address matters beyond the remedies a judge could order, including practical arrangements between family members.
Family relationships
Mediation can provide a less adversarial environment where the parties have continuing family relationships.
Speed
Mediation can take place without waiting for the litigation process to reach trial.
Mediation does not require a party to abandon their legal rights. No settlement is imposed by the mediator: any agreement is reached by the parties themselves, and a party remains free to continue with litigation if the dispute does not settle.
The process
How mediation works
Enquiry
A solicitor, party or professional adviser contacts ProMediate with basic details of the dispute.
Conflict check and arrangements
The proposed mediator checks for conflicts and arrangements are agreed with all parties.
Preparation
The parties provide an agreed mediation bundle or concise position papers and any essential documents.
Mediation
The mediator works confidentially with the parties to explore whether an agreed resolution can be reached.
Mediation may take place online or in person, and can be arranged for a half day or a full day depending upon the nature of the dispute.
Referrals
Who can refer a dispute?
Enquiries are welcome from solicitors, barristers, executors and administrators, trustees, beneficiaries, individuals and professional advisers. Parties do not necessarily need to have commenced court proceedings before mediating.
- Solicitors
- Barristers
- Executors & administrators
- Trustees
- Beneficiaries
- Individuals
- Professional advisers
- Family members
79%
rise in probate caveats since 2010
11,328
caveats entered in 2025
1,217
High Court disputed probate claims in 2025
Research & trends
Inheritance Disputes Are Rising: Probate Caveats Have Increased by Almost 80% Since 2010
The figures behind the growth in contested wills and probate disputes — and why early mediation is becoming increasingly important
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 12 min read
Explore the DataSeries
Inheritance Wars
Inheritance Wars examines real disputes over wills, estates, trusts and family property which have reached the courts — and asks what they can teach us about resolving inheritance disputes through mediation.
Probate & Estates
Inheritance Wars: When a Family Dispute Continues Beyond Death
Ofori-Kuma v Fordjor — a bereaved family divided over whether a mother should be buried or cremated, and what the High Court could, and could not, resolve.
Peter Causton · 9 September 2026 · 12 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
Inheritance Wars: The Solicitor, the Forged Will — and the Daughter Left With Nothing
Khatun v Hasan — when a solicitor’s supposed final will disinherited his only child in favour of another man, the High Court had to decide whether the document was genuine at all.
Peter Causton · 1 July 2025 · 18 min read
Read the case analysis
Probate & Estates
Inheritance Wars: Ten Children, a Family Home — and a Box Full of Gold
Kaur v Kaur — when informal family loans, mortgages, jewellery and promises left ten siblings fighting over their mother's estate more than a decade after her death.
Peter Causton · 3 November 2025 · 19 min read
Read the case analysis
Inheritance Act
Inheritance Wars: The £38.5 Million Estate, the Patek Philippe and the Claim That Came Four Years Too Late
O’Herlihy v Taylor — a man who said a wealthy property investor had treated him as a son sought a South Kensington flat, a classic Mercedes, a Patek Philippe watch, a painting and substantial financial provision. But before the court could decide whether he should inherit anything, there was another problem: he had waited more than four years too long to bring the claim.
Peter Causton · 9 March 2026 · 17 min read
Read the case analysis
Inheritance Act
Inheritance Wars: His Partner Said They Lived Together — His Children Said She Was Only His Tenant
Jassal v Shah — a long-term partner claimed provision from an estate stated at just under £1.4 million after being left nothing. To prove they had been living together, she admitted that documents suggesting otherwise were a false trail connected with benefits fraud.
Peter Causton · 6 September 2026 · 17 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
Inheritance Wars: Their Father Died First — Then Grandad’s New Will Left Them £50 Each
Gowing v Ward — five granddaughters expected to inherit their late father’s share of their grandfather’s estate. A later will instead left the estate to his two surviving children and gave each granddaughter just £50.
Peter Causton · 6 September 2026 · 16 min read
Read the case analysis
Property & Estoppel
Inheritance Wars: The Farmer With Dementia, the Son Who Died — and the 58 Acres That Changed Hands
Hughes v Pritchard — a Welsh farmer changed his will after one of his sons died. The High Court said he lacked testamentary capacity. The Court of Appeal said he did not. But a decades-old promise about 58 acres of farmland created another inheritance dispute entirely.
Peter Causton · 6 September 2026 · 17 min read
Read the case analysis
Inheritance Act
Inheritance Wars: 66 Years of Marriage — and Her Husband Left Everything to the Sons
Kaur v Estate of Karnail Singh — an 83-year-old widow who had spent her adult life raising the family and contributing to its business discovered that her husband's will left the family wealth solely down the male line.
Peter Causton · 6 September 2026 · 14 min read
Read the case analysis
Mediation & ADR
Inheritance Wars: What Can Mediation Do That a Judge Cannot?
A court can decide who is legally right. An inheritance mediation can sometimes solve a much bigger problem.
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 9 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
Inheritance Wars: The 95-Year-Old Mother, the Two Feuding Brothers and the House That Changed Hands
Schrader v Schrader — an elderly mother changed her will so that one son received the family house outright. She had capacity. She knew what she was signing. But the court still held that the will had been procured by undue influence.
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 15 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
Inheritance Wars: The Mother Who Left Her £1 Million Farm to a Charity She Didn’t Even Like
Gill v Woodall — an only daughter was excluded from her mother’s will in favour of the RSPCA, despite years of family involvement with the farm and evidence that her mother had little enthusiasm for the charity
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 16 min read
Read the case analysis
Property & Estoppel
Inheritance Wars: “One Day This Will All Be Yours” — When Expecting the Family Farm Isn’t Enough
James v James — a farmer’s only son expected to inherit the family land, but expectation, family assumption and statements of future intention were not enough to establish a legal promise
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 15 min read
Read the case analysis
Property & Estoppel
Inheritance Wars: “That’s for My Death Duties” — The Farmer Who Promised a Farm Without Ever Quite Saying So
Thorner v Major — nearly 30 years of unpaid work, a famously taciturn farmer, an oblique promise and the question of whether a farm had really been promised at all
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 14 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
Inheritance Wars: The Husband and Wife Who Signed Each Other’s Wills
Marley v Rawlings — when a solicitor handed a husband and wife the wrong mirror wills to sign, and a mistake involving a £70,000 estate ended up in the Supreme Court
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 12 min read
Read the case analysis
Property & Estoppel
Inheritance Wars: The £10 Million Promise by a Swimming Pool in Vietnam
The Fabric Land family dispute — when a son-in-law said a holiday conversation promised him the family business, but the court decided the promise was never made
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 13 min read
Read the case analysis
Inheritance Act
Inheritance Wars: The Father Who Reconciled With the Daughter He Had Cut Out of His Will — But Never Changed It
McDaniel v Talbot — when a will accurately recorded a broken relationship in 2014, but no longer reflected the family reality when its maker died eight years later
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 14 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
Inheritance Wars: The Mother Who Believed Her Son Tried to Murder His Brother
The Dalton inheritance dispute — dementia, false allegations, a radically changed will and a £600,000 estate
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 13 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
Inheritance Wars From the Archives: The Man Who Saw Devils — But Was Still Sane Enough to Make a Will
Banks v Goodfellow — the extraordinary Victorian inheritance dispute which created the test for testamentary capacity still used more than 150 years later
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 14 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
Inheritance Wars: The Tyre Millionaire, the Secret Will and the Four Children at War
Bond v Webster — when a father’s final will transformed an equal inheritance into a family battle over millions
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 15 min read
Read the case analysis
Joint Property
Inheritance Wars: The Husband and Wife Who Died Together — and the £300,000 Question of Who Died First
Scarle v Scarle — when an obscure rule from 1925 decided which side of a family inherited everything
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 13 min read
Read the case analysis
Inheritance Act
Inheritance Wars: “Lazy, Useless and Druggy” — The Daughter Her Father Deliberately Cut Out of a £1.4 Million Estate
Howe v Howe — when estrangement, financial need and a parent’s conduct collide under the Inheritance Act
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 14 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
Inheritance Wars: The 92-Year-Old Who Tore Up Her Will on Her Deathbed
Crew v Oakley — when destroying a piece of paper changed who inherited an £800,000 estate
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 12 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
Inheritance Wars: The Daughter Who Cared for Her Mother — and the Three Brothers Who Said She Took Control of the Will
Rea v Rea — when care, dependency and a £1 million family home become allegations of undue influence
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 13 min read
Read the case analysis
Inheritance Act
Inheritance Wars: The Mother Who Left Her Daughter Nothing — and £486,000 to Animal Charities
Ilott v The Blue Cross — can an estranged adult child successfully challenge a parent's will?
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 12 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
Inheritance Wars: The Harry Potter Books, the Disinherited Daughter and the £350,000 Estate
Clitheroe v Bond — when family suspicion becomes legally significant testamentary delusion
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 12 min read
Read the case analysis
Property & Estoppel
Inheritance Wars: “One Day This Will All Be Yours” — The Family Farm Promise That Ended in Court
Winter v Winter — when a lifetime working in the family business collided with a father's final will
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 10 min read
Read the case analysis
Contested Wills
The £200,000 Stamp Collection Sold for £1: When a Will Dispute Costs Almost as Much as the Estate
Neate v Heselden — testamentary freedom, disappointed beneficiaries and the financial risks of challenging a will
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 9 min read
Read the case analysis
Probate & Estates
Inheritance Wars: The £5 Million Estate and a £490,000 Costs Bill
Teixeira v Moaven — when an inheritance dispute lasts 14 years and ends in indemnity costs
Peter Causton · 4 September 2026 · 9 min read
Read the case analysisInsights
Latest insights
Cases & Commentary
“This case cries out for mediation”: Rogers v Wills and the cost of litigating family inheritance disputes
Two trials, a 2,038-page bundle, substantial costs and a family relationship left in ruins. Rogers v Wills is a powerful reminder that winning an inheritance dispute is not always the same as resolving it.
Peter Causton · 27 August 2026 · 9 min read
Property & Estoppel
When Family Property Disputes Reach the High Court: The Cost of Informal Trusts and Unclear Intentions
Bisiker v Bisiker [2026] EWHC 2070 (Ch) provides another stark illustration of the financial and personal risks of allowing disputes over family property, trusts and inheritance to proceed all the way to trial.
Peter Causton · 25 August 2026 · 10 min read
Mediation & ADR
When the Court orders a party to attend mediation
On 12 September 2025, in the Business and Property Courts at Bristol, His Honour Judge Paul Matthews handed down a judgment that is likely to be studied by both probate practitioners and mediators for some…
Peter Causton · 11 September 2025 · 6 min read
Discuss a Mediation
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