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It can be distressing to learn that a loved one’s will doesn’t provide for you adequately, if at all, or that you don’t inherit anything if they die without a will.
Talk to usIn certain situations you may able to claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, often referred to as the Inheritance Act. This allows the court to vary the will (or the intestacy rules) to ensure you receive reasonable provision from your loved one’s estate.
Call us free today to see how we can help you understand your options on 0808 164 0808, or request a call back if you’d like one of our no-win, no-fee experts to call you.
Head of Inheritance Disputes Andrew Wilkinson, and Partner Debra Burton, discuss how our team handles inheritance disputes and the approach we take to helping individuals and their families at such a difficult time.
Our inheritance dispute lawyers are happy to discuss the number of different fee options with you.
To learn more about funding your inheritance dispute claim click here >
Not everyone who is disappointed about a deceased’s will or the outcome of the intestacy rules can bring a claim under the Inheritance Act. Only certain categories of people are eligible to claim:
A widow/widower has a particularly strong claim against the estate under the Inheritance Act 1975. The court approaches these claims more generously than, for example, Inheritance Act claims by adult children, where the provision is likely to be less generous.
A widow/widower can generally expect to be able to enjoy the standard of living that they enjoyed when their partner was alive, assuming of course the estate is big enough. If that provision isn’t made for them, then the court has the power to intervene and correct the situation.
If your ex-spouse or civil partner has died without leaving you with reasonable financial provision, you may be able to claim for this following the death of your partner. This is possible providing that you have not remarried, or that any previous divorce settlement is in place preventing you from making a claim.
For example, if you drew up a pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement that had a clause restricting your ability to gain any inheritance, then you might be barred from this. To understand these rules further, and if you are considering bringing an Inheritance Act claim for reasonable financial provision following the death of an ex-spouse or civil partner, it is important to seek expert legal advice in the first instance.
If you have been cohabiting with the deceased in the two years just before their death, as if husband and wife, but have either been left out of the will, or have not been provided for adequately in it, you may be able to claim against the estate of the deceased under the Inheritance Act 1975. This applies to both opposite sex and same sex partners of the deceased.
It is worth noting that the court will not take into account any periods of involuntary separation, for example arising from employment, hospital visits or if one partner is living in a care home. Such occurrences would not ‘stop the clock’ for the two year period. However, if you voluntarily left the shared home and stopped cohabiting, this would count as stopping the clock.
This could be a child of the deceased (biological or adopted), or someone treated as a child of the deceased (e.g. a step child)
In circumstances where a parent has remarried, or has co-habited with a new partner, or where children and parents are estranged, children can be left out of a will, or not provided for fully within it. Inheritance Act claims by children are not uncommon.
A child left out of a will cannot make a claim against an estate simply because they are the child of the deceased. They will need to show some requirement for maintenance in order to do so. Estranged child inheritance may be difficult to obtain.
Maintenance refers to necessary material items or income in order to meet the everyday expenses of living, and therefore must not be excessive. It is worth noting that the Inheritance Act 1975 claims also cover adult children if they are not financially independent. Again, this category of people will need to show a need for maintenance that can be provided by claiming some value from the estate of the deceased.
This is a catch all provision within the Inheritance Act 1975 which can be used by people who do not fit within the other categories of people, but still had a relationship with the deceased and were not adequately provided for by the will.
The definition of being maintained is fairly wide and can include the deceased paying or even just contributing to mortgage or rent, paying off debts, paying for school fees or providing someone with a regular income. Anyone who was living with the deceased prior to their death for less than two years may still be able to qualify under this section.
Inheritance Act claims by dependents involves needing to show they were being supported and also the basis upon which that support was being offered and accepted. This is something we can help with when you contact us to enquire about bringing an inheritance claim. Inheritance Act claims by cohabitants can also occur, where they hope to secure a financial maintenance claim from the estate solicitor.
It is important to realise that even if someone is eligible to bring an Inheritance Act claim, they won’t automatically get something from the estate. It may have been entirely reasonable for the deceased not to have provided for them in their will, or made only limited provision. They may have received a lot of money or financial assistance during the deceased’s lifetime already, they may be financially independent and/or there may be a number of competing claims against the estate, which may not be large enough to satisfy them all.
When assessing what individuals are likely to receive from claims under the Inheritance Act 1975, it depends on who is making the claim. For anyone other than a spouse or civil partner, any claim is limited to what is required for their maintenance. For spouses and civil partners, the test is higher – it is what would be reasonable for them to receive in all the circumstances not limited to maintenance.
The Inheritance Act itself sets out a range of factors which would be considered when deciding what a person may receive, if anything during family inheritance disputes. These include:
• their own financial needs and resources
• the size of the estate
• whether any other person is bringing an inheritance act claim
• the resources and needs of the actual beneficiaries of the estate
• any obligations the deceased may have had towards that person
• any physical or mental disability the claimant may have
• any other matter, including any conduct which may be relevant
Each claim has to be assessed properly due to the many different scenarios that can occur case by case.
There is a time limit for bringing Contentious Probate claims. They normally have to be issued at court within 6 months from the date of the grant of probate. You can search online to see whether or not a grant has been issued.
Depending on how complex the deceased’s estate is, a grant of probate could be issued only a few weeks after the deceased’s death so this may not leave a lot of time for someone to make a claim. Therefore you should act quickly and get in touch with legal professionals.
It is possible to bring a claim after the 6 months has expired, but you will need permission from the court to do so. The court looks at the full range of factors, such as the reasons for the delay in making the claim, and what prejudice would be suffered to the estate and any other beneficiary. There is no guarantee that the court would grant permission even if the delay is only a few weeks. Similarly, just because a claim may be brought many years after the grant, it doesn’t mean that permission would be refused.
It will be up to the court to decide, and again depends on the individual facts of the case.
