Professional Negligence

A negligently drafted will can profoundly impact the lives of surviving relatives. At Coodes, our personal disputes team has wide-ranging experience of advising clients on addressing issues relating to negligently drafted wills and helping them to set straight matters that might otherwise take years to resolve or remain unresolved with all affected parties left dissatisfied.

All professionals, whether they be a solicitor, accountant or financial advisor owe you a duty to give you reliable advice and not cause you loss through their actions, inaction or advice. Sadly, cases do still occur where professionals fail to follow this duty when they prepare or advise on wills.

We understand how frustrating it is to be let down by the very professionals you instructed – and trusted – to help you. In such circumstances, we will provide you with clear, reliable advice, help you to understand your options and take all possible steps to achieve the right outcome for you. Our team are highly motivated and top ranked by independent client directory, Chambers and Partners, for our wills and probate work.

If you discover that you or a deceased relative have been poorly or negligently served by a professional advisor, we can help you. We advise on resolving a wide range of professional negligence claims relating to wills and probate, including:

• If you have been left out of a poorly written will
• The will was poorly executed – for example, it was not witnessed properly
• Failure to notice that a Testator was being forced to make a will or that they lacked the capacity to make a will
• Negligent probate advice – for example, an independent financial advisor gave you bad advice over the value of the estate
• Negligent tax advice – for example, a tax advisor gave the deceased incorrect tax advice, or a solicitor failed to file an Inheritance Tax return with HMRC
• Negligent claims and litigation advice – for example, a solicitor did not handle your inheritance claim correctly
• Will rectification

Will rectification

In certain limited circumstances, it may be possible to rectify a will – change it. Our expert can

advise you in cases where you believe that the wording of a will is not a true reflection of what the Testator intended or wanted. The Administration of Justice Act 1982 provides a limited power to rectify wills in order to correct two types of mistakes:

• mistakes caused by clerical error
• mistakes arising from the professional who drafted the will failing to understand the testator’s instructions.

If a Court can be satisfied that the will is expressed in a way that fails to carry out the testator’s intentions, it can sometimes order the will to be rectified so as to carry out the intentions. Given the legal significant of a will, and possible involvement of other beneficiaries, this type of claim can be complicated. We will advise you on the legal steps involved in approaching the rectification of a will and provide an honest assessment of your chances of success if you decide to proceed.