High Court orders will writers to mediate

Coodes Solicitors represents the Claimants in the case of Ivey v Lythgoe [2025] EWHC 2325 (Ch) which has attracted national attention following an important and unusual ruling of the High Court.

The application before His Honour Judge Paul Matthews, sitting at the High Court in Bristol, involves the estate of David Ivey, who died in 2023, unmarried and without having any children. The Claimants are his three nephews and niece, the children of his late brother Russell.

The outcome of the application has attracted attention as the Judgment of His Honour Judge Matthews means that the will writers have been ordered to attend mediation, when they had previously refused to attend, and also consolidated the probate / rectification claims with the separate negligence claim.  

Two wills are at the centre of the underlying High Court proceedings:

• The will dated 15 July 2009, was drafted by Trust Inheritance Ltd who are a company of will writers. In the case of this will, the claimants say it requires rectification as it does not reflect Mr Ivey’s instructions to the will writers, or, in the alternative is invalid due to want of knowledge and approval.

• A previous will from 1994 which was prepared by PEP Consultancy Ltd (who were suggested to be predecessors of Trust Inheritance Ltd). The Claimants say there is no evidence this was ever executed and the only copy they have had sight of is unsigned. However, if it was to be admitted to probate, if the 2009 Will is found to be invalid, this Will also requires rectification as it does not accord with the express written instructions of Mr Ivey to the will writers.

The Claimants’ case is that both documents fail to reflect David‘s true express intentions and that errors by the will writers both in 1994 and in 2009 have deprived them of their rightful inheritance, which would have passed to them given their father Russell had pre-deceased David and/or as they would be David’s intestacy beneficiaries if there was no valid last will.

Alongside their claims as to invalidity and/or rectify the wills, the Claimants have also issued separate negligence proceedings protectively against Trust Inheritance Ltd, for failing to record and implement Mr Ivey’s wishes correctly, and claiming for the loss caused by this together with legal costs of the Court action.

The Claimants and First Defendant, who is the sole beneficiary under the 2009 Will and who was defending the probate claim, had agreed to mediate those claims and a mediation had already been arranged.

The Judge’s ruling

On 12 September 2025, Judge Matthews ordered the consolidation of the two sets of proceedings and, crucially, directed that the will-writing company must attend and participate in mediation.

While the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) already give courts the power to require parties to engage in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), it is highly unusual, and may even be the first time, that will writers have been compelled to do so in a case of this kind.

The Judge emphasised that without mediation, legal costs were likely to outstrip the sums at stake, underlining the importance of early resolution.

This ruling underlines the court’s readiness to ensure that all relevant parties, including professional advisers whose work is in question, play a full role in attempts to resolve disputes without the need for a costly trial. It also demonstrates the court’s willingness to use its powers creatively to bring about mediation, even where the party in question was not originally part of the underlying probate claim.

For families dealing with contested wills, and for professionals involved in will preparation, the case highlights the practical importance of ADR in disputes and is a welcome example of how the courts are prepared to step in and manage disputes to save time and costs.

Coodes is pleased to be involved in providing support and expert advice in this matter. We recognise the wider significance of this decision for the law of succession and for professional practice in will drafting. The case is scheduled for mediation in October, which the Court has ordered all parties, including the will writers, to attend.