Wills and Estates Lawyers: directory of firms

If there is no valid will, statute decides who inherits, and it does not follow what most people would have chosen. In England and Wales a surviving spouse or civil partner takes a fixed sum off the top before the rest is divided where there are children. That figure, the fixed net sum under section 46(1) of the Administration of Estates Act 1925, was set at 322,000 pounds by an order in force from 26 July 2023.

Unmarried partners take nothing under intestacy in England and Wales, however long the relationship. Stepchildren who were never adopted take nothing. Those two facts are the reason most intestacy disputes exist, and both are avoidable with a will.

Scotland and Northern Ireland apply their own intestacy schemes with different shares and different priorities, so the answer changes with the deceased's domicile and where the assets sit.

GOV.UK describes probate as the legal right to deal with someone's property, money and possessions after they die, and says not to manage finances or sell property until you have it. Executors named in a will apply for a grant of probate; where there is no will, the closest living relative applies for letters of administration.

Probate is not always needed. It may be unnecessary where the deceased only held savings, owned shares or money jointly, or held property as joint tenants so it passes automatically to the survivor. Scotland's equivalent process is confirmation, obtained through the sheriff court, and Northern Ireland has its own probate rules.

Preparing probate papers is a reserved legal activity under the Legal Services Act 2007, which is why the work sits with solicitors or with licensed probate practitioners regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers rather than with any adviser who offers it.

Scots succession law gives a surviving spouse or civil partner and children legal rights in the deceased's moveable estate, claimable regardless of what the will says. England and Wales have nothing equivalent; there, testamentary freedom is the starting point, subject to claims under separate legislation.

That single difference means you cannot assume a will drafted in one jurisdiction produces the intended outcome in another. If you own property in more than one part of the UK, or have moved between them, say so at the first appointment. Powers of attorney are the same: an LPA is legally binding only in England and Wales, and Scotland and Northern Ireland use their own documents and their own registration routes.

Wills are challenged on a small number of grounds: that the formalities were not met, that the person lacked capacity, that they did not know and approve the contents, or that someone exerted undue influence. Home-made and online wills generate a disproportionate share of these disputes, usually because nobody recorded why the will said what it said.

Separately, certain people can claim against an estate for financial provision even where the will is perfectly valid, and the rules differ across the UK. A solicitor preparing a will for someone in poor health, or one that leaves out an obvious beneficiary, will normally take steps to record capacity and reasons at the time. That file note is what defends the will years later when nobody else can remember the conversation.