As part of a process to challenge a will you can lodge something called a caveat with the Probate Registry. The Probate Registry have just issued a new form called a PA8A to do this. You can stop an application for a grant of representation for up to 6 months.
So, what are the reason you might wish to stop an application being granted. Here are some:
•you think the person who made the will was being influenced by someone else or was not able to make their own decisions •you think someone interfered with the will or forged it •there is a more recent will •the will was not properly signed and witnessed •the person applying for probate refuses to share a copy of the will with you •you are in dispute with the person applying or you think they are not suitable to carry out the instructions in the will •you think the person applying is not eligible to apply if there is no will (see who inherits if there is no will) •you are entitled to apply but have not been included in the application •the person who died got married or entered into a civil partnership after the will was signed You should always try to come to an agreement with the person applying for probate before you stop their application as you may have to pay legal costs if you stop the application without good reason.
Once your application is received, it takes one working day to stop applications in progress. If a Grant of Probate application is approved on the same day you make the request, it will not be stopped. But you will stop any future applications for probate made.
If you are looking at lodging a caveat
you are veering into the world of contentious probate. This is not something that Argo does but we do work with other great teams of people who do. If you are an executor and you receive notification from the Probate Registry that a caveat has been lodged it would be sensible for you to obtain legal advice at an early stage to find out how the caveat and potential issues that resulted in it being lodged could cause.