“Solicitors liable to disappointed beneficiaries for negligent will drafting delays”
By a majority, the House of Lords held that a solicitor does owe a duty of care to intended beneficiaries and can be liable for their economic loss resulting from negligent delay
A testator instructed his solicitor to prepare a new will reinstating his daughters as beneficiaries after previously disinheriting them. The solicitor delayed in preparing the will and the testator died before it could be executed, leaving the daughters without their intended inheritance.
Whether a solicitor owes a duty of care to intended beneficiaries under a will when failing to carry out the testator's instructions with reasonable expedition
The majority applied an incremental approach to duty of care, finding that the relationship between solicitor and intended beneficiary was sufficiently proximate and that policy considerations favoured imposing liability. The alternative would leave disappointed beneficiaries without remedy despite clear foreseeability of harm.
This case significantly expanded professional liability by establishing that solicitors' duties can extend beyond their immediate clients to foreseeable third parties in appropriate circumstances.
A solicitor owes a duty of care to intended beneficiaries of a will when the solicitor's negligence prevents them from receiving their intended inheritance, based on assumption of responsibility.
The House of Lords held the solicitor liable to the disappointed beneficiaries for their lost inheritance due to negligent delay in preparing the new will.
It significantly extended professional liability to third parties using the assumption of responsibility test, demonstrating policy-driven legal development in duty of care.
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[2026] EWHC 1095 (KB)
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