Inheritance Act claim

[Joparso]

Hi I hope someone can advise as I have looked and looked and not sure what is right

I am executor and also beneficiary to my mum’s estate - she passed away in June last year and immediately my estranged brother who has been left out of the Will placed a caveat in our probate application - after several months and him offering no proof that mum was coerced or did not have capacity we got the caveat removed.

probate was granted on the 23rd February 2024

we were initially advised by my brother’s solicitor that he would now be making a claim under the inheritance act and she would send a letter of claim in due course

we have not received anything up to this point and the solicitor is no longer representing my brother - coincidentally this happened after we sent her copies of posts he had made about our mother before and after she died

i know he has 6 months to make a claim, but I don’t understand how he then has a further 4 months to serve it on us.

are we not notified by the court if a claim has been submitted?

I ask as we really want to be able to distribute the estate and thought if we had heard nothing by the 23rd august we would be able to proceed but if he has another 4 months to serve it are we going to have to wait til December ?

we know he has no case as he was not being financially supported by our mum before she died - he has been estranged from the family for 4 years - he is an adult and works full time
and he has no disabilities etc

will the court look at his claim and just refuse it as it has no merit or will they allow it to proceed anyway and expect us to either settle or fight it?

if so it seems unfair as obviously that will cost

I hope that all makes sense

thanks for you time

[atticus]

CPR 7.5 provides that a Claim Form must be served within 4 months of issue. https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...les/part07#7.5

Wheether and when to serve is a decision for the Claimant and not the Court. Defendants are not notified other than by being served.