Wills, Trusts and Estates claims

What is professional negligence in wills, trusts and estates?

Professional negligence occurs when a professional fails in their duty of care, causing loss. In this context, negligence might include:

Negligent will drafting:

• Errors in wording or construction that invalidate a will.
• Failing to ensure proper witnessing and execution.
• Omitting beneficiaries or failing to reflect the true intentions of the person who made the will.

Negligent tax and estate planning advice:

• Poor inheritance tax planning leading to avoidable liabilities.
• Failure to advise on financial reliefs and exemptions.

Mishandling estates and trusts:

• Delays or mistakes in administering an estate.
• Trustees investing assets negligently.
• Executors failing to act in beneficiaries’ best interests.

If you have suffered financial loss due to errors like these, you may have grounds for a professional negligence claim.

Why choose us?

Clients choose us because:

• Our professional negligence team are tier 1 ranked in the Legal 500.
• Our Private Wealth Disputes team is also ranked Tier 1 in Legal 500 and Band 1 in Chambers & Partners, recognising our excellence in contentious wills, trusts, and estates.
• We act against solicitors, accountants, will-writers, trustees, and financial advisers.
• We have expertise in negotiation, mediation, and litigation and will advise you on strategies to ensure that you obtain the best results.
• We combine technical expertise with empathy, understanding the emotional pressures often involved.

Our experience

We have successfully represented clients in a range of complex and high-value negligence claims, including:

• Invalid will drafting
  Acting for a beneficiary excluded due to solicitor error, securing compensation equal to their intended inheritance.
• Inheritance tax negligence
  Bringing a claim against a solicitor who failed to advise on available reliefs, recovering substantial damages for the estate.
• Trustee negligence
  Representing beneficiaries where trustees invested unwisely, obtaining redress for significant financial losses.

These examples show our ability to achieve positive results in even the most sensitive circumstances.

Recent case examples

We regularly act for executors, beneficiaries and family members who have suffered substantial financial loss as a result of negligent tax advice or poorly drafted wills. The following examples illustrate the types of claims we pursue and the outcomes achieved for our clients.

Case study 1:
Our client and her late husband sought advice from an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) in order to gain expert advice on inheritance tax (IHT) planning. As part of the IHT advice, the IFA advised our client and her late husband to make substantial lifetime gifts to their children in order to reduce their multi-million-pound estate. At the time of making these gifts, the IFA was aware that our client’s husband was terminally ill. Despite the IFA’s advice that making the lifetime gifts would result in no IHT liability, upon the death of our client’s husband, our client was faced with an IHT liability of hundreds of thousands of pounds. We successfully pursued a negligence claim against the IFA on our client’s behalf.

Case study 2:
We acted for an individual who was appointed as an executor of his mother’s will. He was also one of two named beneficiaries under the will, the other beneficiary being his sister. The mother specifically instructed the solicitor who drafted her will that her estate was only to pass to her children. She specifically stated that the estate was not to pass to her grandchildren. Our client’s sister predeceased his mother by a number of months. Due to the failure by the solicitor to expressly exclude section 33 of the Wills Act 1837, despite the mother’s wishes, our client’s niece successfully brought a claim for 50% of the testator’s estate. We successfully pursued a claim on behalf of our client against the solicitor who had negligently failed to draft the will properly.