Inheritance Disputes Are Rising: Probate Caveats Have Increased by Almost 80% Since 2010

Arguments about inheritance may be as old as inheritance itself

But there is now compelling evidence that disputes surrounding wills and estates in England and Wales have become substantially more common.

Figures obtained from the Probate Registry under the Freedom of Information Act show that 6,358 probate caveats were entered in 2010. By 2025 the figure was 11,328.

That represents an increase of approximately 79%.

The increase has also accelerated. Analysis of the Probate Registry figures records average annual growth of approximately 4.6% since 2010, rising to approximately 6.2% over the most recent five-year period.

In 2023, the annual number of caveats exceeded 10,000 for the first time. In 2024 it reached a record 11,362. And in 2025 it remained close to that record at 11,328.

These figures do not prove that every caveat becomes a contested probate claim. They do, however, provide a striking measure of the increasing number of estates in which somebody considers it necessary to prevent a grant while concerns are investigated.

What is a probate caveat?

A caveat is entered at the Probate Registry to prevent a grant of representation being issued without the caveator having an opportunity to intervene.

It is commonly used where there is a genuine dispute concerning matters such as:

• whether a will is valid;
• testamentary capacity;
• undue influence;
• want of knowledge and approval;
• fraud or forgery;
• due execution;
• the existence of another will; or
• entitlement to take out the grant.

A caveat is therefore a useful indicator of contentious probate activity.

But an important qualification is required. A caveat is not the same thing as a court claim. Some caveats are resolved without proceedings. Some expire or are removed. One estate can potentially generate more than one procedural event. And not every inheritance dispute requires a caveat.

In particular, a claim for reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 does not, merely because such a claim is contemplated, make a caveat the appropriate procedure.

The statistics must therefore be described accurately. They show a dramatic increase in caveats, not 11,328 fully litigated will disputes.

Court claims are rising too

The wider litigation data points in the same direction.

Reported figures show that 1,217 disputed probate claims were filed in the High Court in 2025. That compares with 1,080 in 2024 and 816 in 2020. The increase from 2020 to 2025 is approximately 49%.

The final quarter of 2025 reportedly saw 342 claims, the highest quarterly figure in a decade.

So although caveats and issued court claims measure different things, both datasets tell a similar story. Contentious probate has become a significant and growing area of civil litigation.

Why are inheritance disputes increasing?

There is unlikely to be one explanation. Instead, several demographic, social and economic changes are occurring simultaneously.

1. Estates are worth more

For many families the most valuable asset is the family home. Long-term increases in property values mean estates which might once have contained relatively modest assets can now be worth hundreds of thousands or millions of pounds.

Where more money is at stake, there is a greater economic incentive to challenge an unexpected inheritance. A disagreement over percentages of an estate can translate into very substantial sums.

2. Families are more complicated

The traditional assumption of one marriage followed by children of that marriage increasingly fails to describe modern families. There may be:

• second or third marriages;
• stepchildren;
• half-siblings;
• unmarried partners;
• children from different relationships;
• estranged children;
• new partners late in life; and
• competing expectations about who should inherit.

A will which appears perfectly logical to the person making it may look profoundly unfair to another family member.

3. People are living longer

Longer life expectancy is welcome. But it also means more people make or change wills at advanced ages. That can lead to disputes about testamentary capacity.

Where a substantial change is made late in life — particularly if one child, carer, friend or new partner benefits — other relatives may question whether the testator genuinely understood and approved the change.

4. Capacity and vulnerability

Dementia and other cognitive conditions can become relevant to testamentary decision-making.

Importantly, a diagnosis of dementia does not automatically mean somebody lacks testamentary capacity. Equally, apparent competence in everyday life does not necessarily resolve the legal question.

Cases may therefore require detailed examination of:

• medical records;
• solicitor attendance notes;
• previous wills;
• witness evidence;
• the circumstances in which instructions were given; and
• the testator's understanding at the relevant time.

5. Blended families create competing expectations

A second marriage can create particularly difficult inheritance questions. A surviving spouse may reasonably expect security. Children from an earlier relationship may equally believe that family wealth accumulated during their parents' marriage should eventually pass to them.

If arrangements are not carefully structured and communicated, both expectations can collide after death.

6. Informal promises

Not every inheritance dispute is actually about whether a will is valid. Someone may have been told for decades: "The farm will be yours." "You'll get the house." "If you stay and work in the business, this will all come to you."

If the eventual will says something different, a proprietary estoppel claim may follow. Cases such as Winter v Winter demonstrate how promises made during life can become legally significant after death.

7. Homemade and poorly drafted wills

The period around the Covid-19 pandemic saw unusual circumstances in which many people made or changed wills while conventional face-to-face professional contact was restricted.

FOI analysis has identified a particularly substantial 36.57% increase in caveats between 2019 and 2021.

That does not establish that pandemic wills caused the increase. But badly drafted, homemade or inadequately documented wills can create fertile ground for later disputes.

8. Greater awareness of inheritance claims

People are also more aware that wills and estates can sometimes be challenged. Online information, media coverage of inheritance cases and greater availability of specialist contentious probate advice mean disappointed beneficiaries are more likely to investigate their position.

That can be positive where a genuine wrong has occurred. It can also create unrealistic expectations. A will being disappointing or apparently unfair is not, by itself, a legal ground for setting it aside.

What the statistics do — and do not — tell us

The figures need to be treated with care.

It would be wrong to say: "There were 11,328 contested probate cases in 2025." That is not what the data shows. There were 11,328 caveats. A caveat is an early procedural measure and does not necessarily develop into litigation.

Conversely, the caveat figures may not capture the full scale of inheritance disputes. Many disagreements are negotiated privately. Many claims under the Inheritance Act settle without a trial. Some proprietary estoppel and trust disputes may arise outside the conventional contested-probate route. And a large proportion of disputes resolve before any reported judgment.

The true number of families experiencing inheritance conflict is therefore impossible to derive simply from reported cases.

What can safely be said is this:

The available indicators show a substantial long-term increase in contentious probate activity in England and Wales.

Why this matters for mediation

The growth in disputes matters because inheritance litigation has characteristics which make it unusually costly — financially and personally.

The parties are frequently family members. The evidence may concern conversations stretching back decades. The central witness — the deceased — cannot give evidence. Allegations may involve dishonesty, undue influence, neglect, favouritism or estrangement.

By the time proceedings begin, grief and longstanding family resentments can become intertwined with the legal issues.

That is precisely why mediation can be particularly valuable.

Mediation does not require anyone to concede their case

Mediation is sometimes misunderstood as simply asking everybody to compromise. That is not its function.

A mediator does not determine who is right. The parties remain free to continue to trial if agreement cannot be reached.

Instead, mediation provides a confidential process in which parties can examine:

• the strength of their evidence;
• litigation risk;
• legal costs;
• the value of the estate;
• the emotional consequences of continuing;
• possible settlement structures; and
• outcomes which a court may not have power to impose.

The court has a limited toolkit

A judge may ultimately decide: Is this will valid? Was there undue influence? Did the deceased have testamentary capacity? Was a promise made? What reasonable financial provision should be ordered?

Those questions sometimes require judicial determination.

But families often have a wider problem. They may need to decide what happens to:

• the family home;
• a farm;
• a family company;
• sentimental possessions;
• occupation of property;
• trusts;
• ongoing relationships;
• executor arrangements; and
• litigation costs.

Mediation permits those matters to be considered together.

Earlier can be better

The statistics also support a more fundamental point. Mediation should not necessarily be treated as something to attempt a few weeks before trial after substantial costs have already been incurred.

There may be opportunities to mediate:

• before proceedings;
• after initial disclosure;
• once medical or testamentary evidence is available;
• after valuations;
• after witness statements; or
• after the court has determined a genuinely necessary preliminary issue.

The appropriate moment will depend upon the dispute. But the possibility of mediation should be kept under review throughout.

An 80% warning sign

An increase from 6,358 caveats in 2010 to 11,328 in 2025 does not mean that English families have suddenly become 79% more argumentative. The reasons are much more complicated.

Greater wealth, longer lives, changing family structures, capacity issues, informal promises and changing expectations about inheritance all play a part.

But the direction of travel is difficult to ignore. Inheritance disputes are becoming an increasingly important part of modern civil litigation.

The challenge is therefore not merely how courts should determine more of them. It is also how families can resolve appropriate disputes before the estate is consumed by the cost and consequences of the argument itself.

That is where mediation has an increasingly important role.