A recent report by Level Group found that more than one-half of UK adults financially depend on receiving an inheritance to some extent, with a whopping one-third saying they will go into debt without it.
Of the various age groups, millennials (51%) were revealed to be the most reliant on receiving a future inheritance. Men (39%) were more likely than women (30%) to face debt or further debt if their expected inheritance did not come through.
Whilst over one in five said they were relying on inheritance to clear credit card or loan debt, the most common reasons were stated to be to live a better quality of life, to meet day-to-day living expenses, to reduce a mortgage, and to support family members.
The survey also highlighted that 38% of respondents were willing to dispute a Will, and potentially go to court, if they felt that the inheritance they received was unfair or not what they expected.
This supports data obtained from the Ministry of Justice showing that probate disputes have increased steadily over the last 10 years. Contested probates that ended up in court rose by 37% in the decade to 2023, with those that took over a year to conclude increasing by over 500% in the past five years. In light of the new residency-based inheritance tax and the proposed regulations to bring more farms and businesses into the inheritance tax net, the current trajectory for inheritance disputes may only accelerate further. With more at stake, beneficiaries may be more motivated to challenge a Will.
The basis for many elements of Will disputes is rooted in laws which were passed in the Victorian era. In May 2025 the Law Commission published its long-awaited report on “Modernising Wills Law”. This sets out multiple recommendations with the aim of, inter alia, increasing clarity and certainty in the law and taking account of societal, technological and medical developments to date.
For example, the current test for a person's mental capacity to make a will or codicil (testamentary capacity) is based on 19th century case law (Banks v Goodfellow). The language and concepts enshrined in that judgment are now archaic, and arguably present increasing opportunity for argument as to interpretation.
The Law Commission's report recommends that, instead, the test set out in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 should apply to all assessments of testamentary capacity and that a code of practice on testamentary capacity should be issued, with a requirement for practitioners to have regard to it. If adopted by the government, this recommendation alone could significantly reduce the scope for inheritance disputes.
It should not be forgotten that it is the testator who, in many cases, holds the cards that will govern whether or not a dispute is likely to follow their death. Considerable care should be taken, and professional advice sought, when preparing their Will. In the words of Niccolo Macchiavelli, “A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair”.
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