How can I stop probate/letters of administration being granted? Caveats, Warnings and Appearances

If you want to stop the administration of an estate, you can enter a caveat.

What is a caveat?
A caveat is a written notice given by someone (the caveator) which is filed at court to prevent probate being granted. The entry of the caveat prevents the grant of probate being issued without the caveator first being consulted or being allowed to make representations to court about the matter. A caveat has effect for six months from the date of entry and may be renewed every six months until it is removed. It should be entered only in certain circumstances, which may include disputing the Will or the person applying for the grant of representation.

How can I remove a caveat? What is a warning?

If you disagree with the placing of a caveat, you can challenge the caveator by issuing a warning to them. The effect of a warning is to give the person who entered the caveat (the caveator) 14 days (including the date of service) to either lodge an appearance setting out their grounds for maintaining the caveat or to remove the caveat. If they do nothing, the caveat will be removed by the Probate Registry.

How do I respond to a Warning? What is an Appearance?

If you have entered a caveat and are served with a warning, you have 14 days (including the day you were served) to enter an appearance. If you do nothing, your caveat will be removed and the application for a grant can proceed.

The effect of entering an appearance is that no grant can be issued by the Probate Registry to anybody except you without an order from the court. Your caveat remains in force until the issues are resolved either by the consent of the parties or following a court hearing. You should have a valid reason for entering your appearance otherwise there is a risk of costs orders being made against you.

What do I do if an Appearance has been entered?

If an appearance has been entered then a caveat can only be removed by consent of the parties or by court order. If the parties agree to the removal of the caveat, it can be removed by consent by filing a summons and consent order at court. If the parties do not agree to the removal of a caveat then you may want to consider issuing a claim at court for the removal of the caveat.

This content was originally posted as a guide to will and inheritance disputes produced by Sarah Atkinson, Ryan Taylor and Tom Dickinson for the National Will Register, which can be found here.