Get your house (and everything else) in order now

Litigation over inheritance is becoming increasingly common, both in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Figures from England and Wales showed a 34 per cent increase in court hearings about inheritance disputes between 2017 and 2022. The Guardian newspaper reported in 2024 that 10,000 families in England and Wales were estimated to be embroiled in such cases every year. Whilst equivalent statistics from the Scottish courts are not available, it is clear that the tide is rising north of the border too, given the number of executry disputes crossing my desk and those of my colleagues and peers.

A perfect storm of factors is responsible, most attributable to the concentration of wealth in the ‘baby boomer’ generation. Members of that generation might have purchased a house in the 1980s when average house prices were 4x average earnings in the UK. Having paid off their mortgage well before retirement, often they will have saved and invested well in retirement thanks to generous indexed linked pensions. All of that adds up to a situation where even fairly modest earners are leaving behind estates worth in excess of £1 million.

More and more executry disputes are landing on Richard Pike's desk

By contrast, those due to inherit from the baby boomers suffered average house prices at 10x the average UK wage. Add the ongoing cost of living crisis, and worries over how to finance retirement, and that part of society is more likely to feel dependent on inheritance and hence be more willing to fight for it, if they do not receive what is coming their way.

Other socio-economic factors are adding to the problem. Families are more complex than ever. As western society’s approach to relationships has evolved, the number of ‘blended’ families is increasing, with children, step-children and step-parents regularly competing over the same estate. Inheritance laws have struggled to keep up with modern life, with disputes involving changing gender-norms, adoption, surrogacy and assisted dying all leading to reported court cases in recent years. The forthcoming major changes to Inheritance Tax announced by the government last year will make it more difficult to settle disputes, with more of the estate going to the taxman.

Thanks to medical advances, another factor is rising life expectancy, bringing with it a significant increase in individuals who lack mental capacity to make a will, or who are vulnerable to financial abuse. These can be some of the most complex and emotionally charged disputes to deal with. Often the alleged ‘abuser’ will have had a power of attorney to manage the incapax individual’s finances whilst alive, and will go on to be appointed as executor of their estate after death. This situation puts up legal and practical hurdles for the victim – how can they get hold of information to investigate the claim, and do they have any legal standing to go after the attorney executor if they are a beneficiary, or are cut out of the will altogether?

Without a doubt, the best way to avoid putting your family through such a distressing and expensive situation is to put in place a well thought out estate plan with the help of specialist professionals, and to communicate your plan to your family so that there are no misunderstandings. If a dispute cannot be avoided, employing lawyers who specialise in inheritance disputes will improve your prospects of an early settlement with relationships intact, as opposed to your own version of Jarndyce v Jarndyce in Dickens’s Bleak House.

Richard Pike is a partner, Brodies LLP