The University of Leicester has until the end of the month to make its preliminary case in a legal battle over where Richard III will be laid to rest.
The university has said the monarch's remains should be interred at Leicester Cathedral, as part of the exhumation licence it obtained from the Ministry of Justice.
However, the agreement between the university and the ministry is being challenged by a group called Plantagenet Alliance. Members claim to be descendants of Richard, the last king of the House of York.
They are seeking a judicial review of the exhumation licence obtained by the archeologists and want the king's bones placed in York Minster.
They are arguing their human rights have been breached because there was not enough consultation on the licence before it was granted.
Lawyer Matthew Howarth, representing the Plantagenet Alliance, said the university and the Ministry of Justice had to submit defence papers to the claim by the end of May.
He said: "The ball is with them. They will have to make an initial decision about how they wish to respond.
"We have sent our papers to them – and to Leicester Cathedral."
Once all the documents have been submitted, a judge will consider them and decide whether to hear the case or dismiss it."
Yesterday, the university declined to comment but it has previously disputed that members of the alliance are descendants of the 15th century king. One leading member of staff called the case "tosh."
Despite this, the university may get drawn into a long and costly dispute if a judge views the alliance's case sympathetically.
Mr Howarth said: "When we began this action, the university was very forthright with its views.
"I think they should have waited to see what we were saying before describing it as tosh.
"We would not have brought this case if we did not think there was merit in it, nor would two senior QCs have decided to get involved."
Mr Howarth said it would probably be a month, from the submission of all the papers, before a judge looked at the matter.
Both Leicester Cathedral and York Minster have been named as "interested parties" in the proceedings.
The cathedral said it had been sent a box of documents with family trees supposed to show alliance members' descent from Richard. It has consulted the diocesan solicitor and is contemplating whether it needs further legal representation.
York Minster has already said it is happy for the king to be interred in Leicester.
Leicester Cathedral canon commissioner the Rev Pete Hobson has been put in charge of arranging Richard's interment, which must be done by August next year.
He said they really did not want to be involved in the case.
"We were named as an interested party in this by someone else," he said. "We are just getting on with the job of preparing for the interment.
"We are hoping the case will be dismissed because it is all a bit of a distraction."
