Probate Claim Defendant Guide: Form N2B Explained (2026)

At a glance

• Deadline to acknowledge service: 28 days from service of the particulars of claim (or the claim form, if particulars are included) — double the standard 14 days under CPR Part 10, because every probate claim is allocated to the multi-track.
• The form you complete: Form N3 (Acknowledgment of Service — Probate Claim). Form N2B is the court's guidance notes, not the form itself.
• A duty that applies whether or not you defend: you must lodge every testamentary document in your possession or control, and file signed written evidence about testamentary documents, at the same time as your acknowledgment of service — under CPR rule 57.5.
• No default judgment is possible in a probate claim. CPR rule 57.10 disapplies the ordinary default-judgment rules, but the claim can still proceed to trial, and be decided, without your input if you do nothing.
• Three genuine response options: defend, counterclaim, or stay neutral by putting the will "to proof in solemn form" under CPR rule 57.7(5) — each carries a different costs exposure.
• Costs do not automatically follow the estate. The general rule is loser-pays; the estate only picks up the bill in narrow, fact-specific circumstances.

What is a probate claim, and why have I been named as a defendant?

A probate claim is a court action about the estate of someone who has died. It can ask the court to decide whether a will is valid, to pronounce for or against a particular document as the true last will, to remove or replace a personal representative, or to resolve a dispute about how an estate is being administered. Probate claims are governed by CPR Part 57, a specialist set of rules that sits alongside — and in places overrides — the ordinary Civil Procedure Rules. Every probate claim is allocated to the multi-track and, in the High Court, assigned to the Chancery Division; in the County Court it can only be started at a hearing centre with a Chancery district registry or at the County Court at Central London.

If you have been named a defendant, the claimant believes you have an interest in the outcome. That might be because you are the executor or the person to whom a grant was made, a beneficiary under the will being challenged, a relative who would inherit if the will failed (for example under the intestacy rules), or someone accused of mishandling the estate. The court treats probate claims with particular care because the one person who could explain what they actually intended — the deceased — cannot give evidence. That is the reason behind the extra procedural steps described below, and why the process can feel more formal than an ordinary dispute.

For background on the claimant's side of the paperwork, see our guide to Form N2 and contesting a will. When the court issues the claim, it also generates a formal notice of issue, Form N205D, confirming the claim number and issue date you will need for your own paperwork.

The 28-day clock: why it is longer, and what starts it running

The single most important date is the day you were served — not the date on the envelope, not the date you opened it. CPR rule 57.4 sets the period for filing an acknowledgment of service at:

• 28 days after service of the particulars of claim, if you were served with a claim form stating that particulars of claim would follow separately; or
• 28 days after service of the claim form, in any other case (i.e. where the particulars of claim were included with the claim form itself).

That is twice the ordinary 14-day period that applies to most civil claims under CPR Part 10. The extension exists because probate claims are automatically allocated to the multi-track and typically require you to gather and lodge documents — testamentary documents in particular — that take time to locate. If the claim form was served on you outside the jurisdiction, the period is extended by a further 14 days under the rules on service abroad.

Check whether the particulars of claim arrived with the claim form or separately — this changes which document starts your clock. Keep the envelope, the covering letter, and any certificate of service, since the exact service date is what everything else in this guide runs from.

What you must do when you acknowledge service

File Form N3, not Form N2B

Form N2B is the set of explanatory notes the court sends you — it is not itself a form you complete and return. The document you actually file is Form N3, Acknowledgment of Service (Probate Claim). On it you confirm your details, state whether you intend to defend, and return it to the court office that issued the claim within the 28-day window, serving a copy on the claimant. See our dedicated walkthrough of Form N3 for what each section of the form asks for.

Lodge testamentary documents — even ones that hurt your case

CPR rule 57.5 requires any testamentary document of the deceased in your possession or control to be lodged with the court when you acknowledge service. A testamentary document means a will, a codicil, a draft will, written instructions for a will given by or at the request of the deceased, and anything purporting to be evidence of the contents of a will alleged to have been lost or destroyed. Personal letters, handwritten notes, and a solicitor's file copy can all fall within this definition. The duty applies regardless of whether the document supports or undermines the position you want to take — you cannot withhold a document because it is inconvenient. If you are unsure where an original will was kept, our guide on depositing and storing a will explains the usual custody arrangements — a solicitor's strongroom, the Probate Service's own will storage facility, or a bank.

File signed written evidence about testamentary documents

Alongside your acknowledgment of service, you must file written evidence that either describes any testamentary document you know of, or confirms that you know of none — and, for any document you know of but do not hold, gives the name and address of whoever does, so far as you know it. This evidence must follow the specimen form annexed to Practice Direction 57 and, critically, must be signed by you personally — not by your solicitor — unless you are acting through a litigation friend.

You cannot see the other side's documents until you have lodged your own

Rule 57.5(5) provides that, except with the court's permission, no party can inspect testamentary documents or written evidence lodged by another party until they have lodged their own. This mutual, blind-first structure is a deliberate feature of probate procedure, designed to stop parties shaping their account around what someone else has produced.

If a probate grant (rather than just the will) is under attack — for example the claim seeks revocation of an existing grant of probate or letters of administration — and you hold that grant, you must also lodge it with the court when you acknowledge service, unless it has already been lodged at the Principal Registry of the Family Division or a district probate registry.

Deciding how to respond: defend, counterclaim, or stay neutral

There is no obligation to actively fight a probate claim just because you disagree with it. CPR Part 57 recognises three genuinely different postures, and picking the wrong one for your actual interest in the estate can cost you unnecessarily.

| Response | What it involves | Typical defendant | Costs exposure | |---|---|---|---| | Defend | File a defence (and evidence) actively contesting the claim, following the same timetable as the acknowledgment of service | A beneficiary or relative with a direct financial interest in the outcome | Full costs risk if you lose, under the general loser-pays rule | | Stay neutral | Give notice under CPR 57.7(5) that you raise no positive case but insist the will be proved "in solemn form", reserving the right to cross-examine the attesting witnesses | An executor who does not want to be seen favouring one beneficiary over another | Protected from a costs order unless the court finds you had no reasonable ground for opposing the will | | Counterclaim | Serve a counterclaim under CPR 57.8 asserting your own claim or remedy relating to the grant | A defendant who believes the estate is being mismanaged, or that they — not the claimant — are entitled to the grant | Treated as a claim in its own right; ordinary costs rules apply to it |

Defending the claim

If you are defending, your defence must be filed within the same 28-day period as your acknowledgment of service and should respond to each allegation in the particulars of claim. Where a party alleges that a will was not duly executed, that the testator lacked testamentary capacity, that the testator did not know of and approve the contents, or that the will was procured by undue influence or fraud, CPR rule 57.7 requires that party to set out the contention specifically and give particulars of the facts relied on — generalised assertions are not enough. Late or poorly particularised defences risk being struck out, so this is not a section to draft in a hurry.

The neutral option under CPR 57.7(5)

Many executors are named as defendants purely because they hold the grant or are administering the estate, not because they take a side in the underlying dispute. Rule 57.7(5) lets a defendant in that position give notice in their defence that they raise no positive case but insist the will be proved in solemn form, reserving the right to cross-examine the witnesses who attested it. The costs protection built into this rule is real: the court will not order costs against a defendant who takes this course unless it decides there was no reasonable ground for opposing the will in the first place. This is why executors frequently choose it — it satisfies their duty to see the will properly proved without exposing them personally to the costs of a fight they have no stake in.

Bringing a counterclaim

If you believe you have your own claim or are entitled to a remedy relating to the grant — for example that the personal representative should be removed, that the estate has been mismanaged, or that you (not the claimant) should have been granted probate — CPR rule 57.8 requires you to serve a counterclaim making that contention. It is treated procedurally as a claim in its own right. If the claimant has not served particulars of claim within the time allowed, you can apply for the court's permission to serve your counterclaim instead, and the probate claim then proceeds as if your counterclaim were the particulars of claim. A related route exists under rule 57.9 where the probate issue arises as a counterclaim in a different, non-probate claim — that "probate counterclaim" is usually transferred to the Chancery Division or an appropriate Chancery-capable court.

What happens if you do nothing

Ignoring a probate claim does not make it go away, and it does not work the way it might in a straightforward money claim. CPR rule 57.10 is explicit: a default judgment cannot be obtained in a probate claim — the ordinary default-judgment machinery in Part 12, and rule 10.2, simply do not apply here. That does not mean inaction is safe. Once the 28 days have passed without an acknowledgment of service, the claimant can file evidence proving service and then proceed with the claim as if you had acknowledged it. If no defendant acknowledges service or files a defence at all, the claimant can ask the court for an order that the claim proceed to trial, which the court may decide to determine on written evidence alone rather than at a hearing. Any order the court makes at the end of that process can still bind your interest in the estate — you simply will not have had a voice in reaching it. Engaging with the process, even by taking the neutral route above, is almost always the better path.

Costs in a probate dispute: do not assume the estate pays

A common and costly misunderstanding is that legal costs in a probate dispute automatically come out of the estate. They do not. Probate claims are treated as ordinary adversarial litigation for costs purposes, and the general rule remains that the losing party pays the winning party's costs. Long-established case law recognises two narrow exceptions a court has discretion to apply: costs may be ordered out of the estate where the need for litigation was effectively caused by the testator's own conduct (for example an ambiguous or badly executed will) or by those interested in the residue, and each side may instead be left to bear its own costs where a party who challenged the will had reasonable grounds to investigate and a genuine, evidenced belief in facts that would have justified the challenge. Neither exception is automatic, and courts scrutinise them closely — treat any assumption that "the estate will pay" as something to test with an adviser before you decide how hard to contest a claim, not something to rely on.

There is also a court fee to issue and progress a probate claim, and separate fees can apply to applications made within it. Fees change from time to time — always check the current position on GOV.UK's court and tribunal fees page, and check whether you qualify for help with fees if cost is a barrier to responding properly.

Worked example: an executor served as a defendant

Priya, a fictional example, is the executor named in her late father's will. Her brother issues a probate claim disputing the will's validity, naming Priya as a defendant because she holds the grant application and is best placed to produce the original will. Priya has no personal stake in which version of the will is upheld — her role is simply to administer whichever document the court decides is valid.

Priya is served with the claim form and particulars of claim together, so her 28-day clock starts from that date. Within the 28 days she: files Form N3 acknowledging service; lodges the original will (and an earlier draft her father had discussed with her) as testamentary documents under CPR rule 57.5; files signed written evidence describing those documents; and gives notice under CPR rule 57.7(5) that she raises no positive case but requires the will to be proved in solemn form. Because she has taken the neutral route on reasonable grounds, she is protected from a costs order even if the court ultimately upholds the will her brother is challenging.

Common mistakes defendants make

• Treating Form N2B as the form to submit. It is guidance only — Form N3 is the document the court needs.
• Missing the "particulars of claim" distinction. Filing your acknowledgment 28 days after the wrong document arrived can put you outside the window without you realising.
• Withholding a testamentary document because it weakens your position. The duty under CPR rule 57.5 applies regardless of whose case a document helps.
• Getting a solicitor to sign the written evidence about testamentary documents. The rule requires your own signature, not your representative's, except where a litigation friend is acting for you.
• Assuming silence is a safe, cost-free option. No default judgment is possible, but the claim can still proceed and bind you without your input.
• Assuming the estate will automatically cover your legal costs. It often does not — see the costs section above.
• Defending everything on principle when a neutral stance under CPR 57.7(5) would achieve the same protective outcome at far less cost risk, particularly for executors with no personal interest in the result.

What to do next

1. Confirm your exact service date and whether particulars of claim arrived with the claim form or later — this fixes your 28-day deadline under CPR rule 57.4.
2. Gather every testamentary document you hold or control, including drafts, instructions, and anything evidencing a will said to be lost or destroyed.
3. Decide, provisionally, which of the three response paths fits your actual interest — defend, stay neutral under CPR rule 57.7(5), or counterclaim under CPR rule 57.8.
4. File Form N3 and your written evidence about testamentary documents within the 28 days, signed personally, and lodge the documents themselves with the court.
5. If you intend to defend or counterclaim, prepare your defence to the same 28-day timetable — probate defences alleging lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud, or improper execution must set out specific particulars, not general assertions.
6. Check the current court fees and, if relevant, whether you qualify for help with fees, on GOV.UK before you file.
7. Take advice early if the estate's value, the family relationships, or the legal issues are complex. The choice between defending, staying neutral, and counterclaiming has real costs consequences that are easier to get right before you commit to a position than after.
8. If you are an executor who cannot personally deal with the estate — through ill health, being abroad, or another practical barrier — see our guide to Form PA11 and power of attorney for will administration for how someone else can act on your behalf while the claim proceeds.

For the wider range of probate court forms and what each one is for, see our full probate forms and guidance library.

This guide provides general information about responding to a probate claim as a defendant in England and Wales. It is not legal advice and is not a substitute for advice tailored to your specific circumstances. The law described was accurate as at July 2026 and is subject to change — always check GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk, including current court fees, for the most current position.

Last reviewed: July 2026 by a non-practising solicitor · Next review due: July 2027 or on legislative change.