Writing a will and then never mentioning its contents to anyone is extremely common, and mostly understandable – it’s not a comfortable subject. But 2025 was the worst year on record for contested probate cases in England and Wales, and a lot of what drives that isn’t really about the money. It’s about a family finding out something they weren’t prepared for, at the worst possible moment to process it calmly.
What your family doesn’t actually know
Research from Charles Stanley, reported in September 2025, found that 36% of Gen X adults – those roughly 44 to 59 – don’t know what their parents’ inheritance plans actually are. That matters beyond the obvious: if your child is quietly assuming a future inheritance will fund part of their own retirement, and that assumption turns out to be wrong, they’ve lost years they could have spent contributing to a pension instead. Being open about your plans, even in outline, lets the people who’ll be affected by them make better decisions of their own, whether or not the numbers end up matching their expectations exactly.
Contested wills are at a record high, and blended families are the main reason why
The scale of this has grown sharply. Disputed probate cases reaching the High Court hit 1,217 in 2025, a record, up 12.7% on 2024 and up 49% over five years. Caveats lodged against probate – effectively a formal objection that pauses the process – reached 11,328 in 2025, the second-highest total on record. Estate planning professionals surveyed put a clear cause at the top of the list: 68% cite blended families and stepchildren as the single biggest source of inheritance conflict, and 41% report more disagreements over the past year specifically because of that complexity. If your own family includes stepchildren, a second marriage, or children from more than one relationship, this is precisely the situation where saying nothing tends to cause the most damage.
If you’re leaving things unequally, say so while you still can
You’re entirely free under English law to divide your estate however you choose – there’s no requirement to split things equally between children. But an unequal will that arrives as a surprise is one of the more common triggers for a legal challenge, and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 – broadly, a claim that a will didn’t provide reasonably for someone who might have expected it to – have risen 61% since 2020/21. If you’re planning to leave more to one child than another, whether that’s because one already received significant support during your lifetime, one is taking on a family business while the others aren’t, or simply a personal decision, explaining your reasoning now, and setting it out in a letter of wishes alongside your will, does far more to prevent a dispute than silence ever will.
Prepare your executor, not just your will
If a family member will be administering your estate, understanding your Inheritance Tax position in advance changes their experience of the job considerably. Your executor will be responsible for valuing your estate, reporting it to HMRC, and settling any IHT due before assets can be distributed – work that becomes considerably harder if they’re discovering your finances for the first time while also grieving. It’s a genuinely common problem: an estimated 15,000 probate cases in 2024 were held up specifically because of missing or incorrect executor information. A conversation now about where your documents are, roughly what your estate consists of, and any planning you’ve already put in place, is a fairly small ask that saves your executor a great deal of stress later.
We’ve written separately about setting out your wishes for care and putting a Power of Attorney in place if you were ever unable to make decisions for yourself – worth reading alongside this if you haven’t already, since it’s really the other half of the same conversation.
We can help make these conversations easier
Having an adviser in the room can take some of the pressure off a conversation like this – we work with clients across Poole, Bournemouth and the wider Dorset area, and their families, to talk through exactly this kind of thing, whether that’s explaining an executor’s role, helping a family understand an inheritance they’ll receive, or simply being a neutral voice while wishes are being discussed. If you’d like support having these conversations with your own family, get in touch and we’re happy to help.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice, which should be based on your individual circumstances. The information is aimed at retail clients only. All information is correct at the time of writing (September 2026) and is subject to change in the future.
Please do not act based on anything you might read in this article. All contents are based on our understanding of HMRC legislation, which is subject to change.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate will writing, Power of Attorney, Inheritance Tax planning or estate planning.