Sharp rise in will disputesAccording to MoJ figures, the High Court heard 178 probate disputes in 2014, almost double the total of 97 in 2013 and the highest recorded level in England and Wales. Lawyers are said to be attributing the rise to booming property prices and second marriages, with family feuds over ‘divisive legacies’ boosting the number of will disputes. Considering that only a tiny fraction of disputes reach the High Court, with the majority being settled beforehand, these figures are just the tip of the iceberg and indicative of a much larger rise in contested wills. People increasingly expect and rely upon inheritances as they don’t make provision themselves for their own later years