New data has found an upward trend in problems for bereaved families
Families are being issued with an alert after new data “confirms a consistent and accelerating increase in contentious probate activity over the past 15 years”, with 11,328 caveats filed in 2025. The alert comes from legal experts at Birketts LLP.
To quantify the rise in contentious probate matters, Birketts submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Probate Registry seeking information on the number of caveats entered since 2010. A caveat – typically the first step in challenging a Will – prevents executors from obtaining probate until concerns regarding validity or estate administration are resolved.
Birketts said legal practitioners had “long suspected” a steady rise in will disputes, driven by increasingly complex family structures, an ageing population and a surge in poorly drafted Wills. Now, the Freedom of Information request submitted by Birketts’ private wealth disputes team “provides clear evidence of that trend, despite a small drop in the number of claims this year”, it said.
Birketts said it had seen a “marked increase” in the number of individuals seeking advice on the validity of Wills and the administration of estates in recent years. In response to this growing demand, the firm’s private wealth disputes team has more than doubled in size within five years, reflecting the shift in the wider legal landscape, it explained.
Birketts said the data obtained showed average year-on-year growth in caveats since 2010 of 4.59% and an average growth over the past five years of 6.20%.
It said 2023 became the first year to exceed 10,000 caveats and 2024 saw the highest number on record, 11,362. Quarterly figures highlighted similarly sharp increases, it said, with Q2 and Q3 2025 representing the highest comparable quarters since records began.
What is driving the increase?
Barny Croft, Partner in Birketts’ private wealth disputes team, said: “The generational wealth gap is certainly playing a part in the rise in Will disputes, but there are many factors at play: an ageing population, increased life expectancy, more people living with dementia, complex family structures, high value assets, badly drafted Wills, and an increasing number of bad lawyers encouraging people to pursue lousy cases, are just some of them.”
Birketts said its analysis highlighted several key contributors:
An ageing population and increased vulnerability
With 19% of the UK population now aged 65 or over, the implications for testamentary capacity and susceptibility to influence are significant, it said. The increased prevalence of dementia – age being its greatest risk factor – means more Wills are being challenged on the grounds of capacity or undue influence. Cases such as McLean v McLean [2023] EWHC 1863 highlight disputes arising from late-life remarriages, blended families and competing expectations, Birketts explained.
Predatory marriages and complex family structures
More individuals are entering second or third marriages later in life, giving rise to disputes between children from earlier relationships and new partners, said Birketts. In more serious cases, predatory marriages – where younger individuals exploit vulnerable testators – are leading to greater scrutiny of the circumstances in which Wills were executed, it added.
Poorly drafted Wills and the legacy of the Covid-19 lockdown
Birketts said a 36.57% increase in caveats between 2019 and 2021 coincided with lockdown-era Will-making. With many unable to meet solicitors face-to-face, there was a surge in homemade Wills and documents prepared without appropriate assessment of capacity or undue influence. Birketts’ recent case Leonard v Leonard [2024] EWHC 321 illustrates the challenges arising from such Wills, it said.
Looking ahead
Given demographic trends and the volume of Wills prepared under less-than-ideal conditions during the pandemic, Birketts said it expected the upward trajectory in contentious probate claims to continue.
