Challenging a Lifetime Gift

Get expert guidance on challenging a lifetime gift

During a person’s lifetime, they may make a gift to another person for any number of reasons. It may be for birthdays, to help families/friends with expenses or education, or it may even be for tax purposes.

Alternatively, gifts may be intentionally made to avoid creditors, guard against future claims under the Inheritance Act or for the payment of care fees.

Difficulties can arise in such circumstances if there is a concern that the person making the gift has not done so of their own free will. Should you be concerned about a situation like this, our team of experts can advise and guide you

Lifetime gift rules

It is important that all gifts are made by a person (the donor) of their own free will. The donor should not have been pressured into making the gift by another person and the donor should have had the requisite mental capacity to do so.
The gift cannot have been made fraudulently by another person.
If an attorney or deputy has made a gift on behalf of the donor, then they ought to have done so within the authority they have been given.
If a gift has not met the necessary requirements, then it may be possible to challenge that gift, even after the donor has passed away.

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I think I have a claim but I don’t have the funds to pursue it, what can I do?

We are experienced in advising clients and arranging alternative ways of funding disputes including working with litigation funders. Learn more about our litigation funding product.

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If a claim is issued in court and it proceeds to trial, an order on costs will likely be made by the judge. Liability for payment of an opponent’s costs is very fact specific and whilst it is usual for the losing party to pay the costs of the successful party, there are many circumstances where that may not be the case or where there may be alternative costs orders made.

What is a mediation?

A mediation is a process that parties to a dispute or potential dispute usually engage in on a voluntary basis as a means of attempting to resolve their dispute outside of the formal court process. Mediation involves a meeting of the parties facilitated by an impartial mediator on a without prejudice basis, giving the parties to speak more freely about their concerns and approach settlement of the dispute with greater flexibility than is allowed by the court process. Mediation is a very successful way of resolving disputes at an early stage and with significantly less cost than would be incurred in progressing a claim through to final trial. All of our commercial litigators have experience of mediation and Andrew Cromby and Karen Elder are both trained mediators.