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I explained to listeners that in many cases these disputes have arisen because of a failure to take proper legal advice on a Will years before the deceased actually died.

I gave an example of a young man whose father had abandonned his mother when he was still in the womb. He was brought up by his mother who had just died and he was now fearful that his father (who owned the house as it was in joint names) would be coming to throw him out and sell the property. If the mother had taken proper legal advice before she died she would at the very least have severed the joint tenancy and then made provision for it to be passed to her son on her death.

The other key steps in these cases are first to ensure that if you are concerned about an issue arising from a Will or from the administration of an estate it is important to seek advice at an early stage. I gave the example of a caveat which can be registered very simply and cheaply to maintain the status quo in such cases.

Secondly, you should adopt a sensible and commercial attitude to such claims and not to risk using up all the assets in legal costs arguing about the estate!

That is why at Seddons we seek to ensure that our clients have a Will and that where they haven't and an argument emerges, we mediate such disputes at the earliest possible opportunity.