Helen's story: Partner died before signing his will

**Names have been changed to protect our client’s identity.

Helen** brought a successful Inheritance Act claim against her partner’s estate after her partner, John**, died before signing his will, which was going to benefit her. This meant that John’s estate passed to his estranged sister. With our legal support, Helen has received a significant proportion of John’s estate.

Timeline of events

Early 2019

John gave instructions to a will writer for a will benefitting Helen.

A few weeks later John passed away suddenly.

Spring 2020

A Grant of Letters of Administration was obtained by John’s sister for his estate and the statutory 6 month time frame for Helen to commence an Inheritance Act claim started running.

How Lime Solicitors helped Helen’s case

We were approached by Helen the partner of John following his sudden death. In the weeks prior to his death John had provided instructions to a will writer to prepare his will which would have left the majority of his estate to Helen. Unfortunately John passed away unexpectedly before he could sign the will and as Helen and John were unmarried, his estate passed via the intestacy rules to his closest surviving relative, his sister, whom he had been estranged from for many years.

Helen had little in the way of assets, was living in rented accommodation, and had significant medical problems which severely impacted on her everyday life and her earning capacity. She had relied heavily on John for his support in all aspects of her life. Helen had been financially dependent on John and had a strong basis for an Inheritance Act claim against John’s estate.

Attempts were made to reach a resolution with John’s sister without court proceedings unfortunately, she was unwilling to engage and an Inheritance Act claim was issued in the High Court. As a result of her health issues Helen’s capacity declined over the course of the court proceedings and a litigation friend had to be appointed to represent Helen’s interests in the ongoing court proceedings.

Joint medical expert reports were obtained on Helen and extensive witness evidence was obtained from John’s friends and work colleagues in support of Helen’s claim.  Ultimately this evidence, which clearly indicated that Helen was likely to be successful if the case proceeded to trial, resulted in John’s sister finally agreeing to mediate. That mediation resulted in a settlement where Helen received a significant lump sum payment from the estate and the payment of her legal fees.

A note from Alistair Spencer

“This was an incredibly sad situation, John and Helen were both relatively young and John’s death was completely unexpected.

“The fact that John had provided instructions for a will a few weeks prior to his death and the contents of that will file which clearly showed John had wanted Helen to receive the bulk of his estate, the clear evidence of his estrangement from his sister and the joint medical evidence where key to obtaining the settlement.

“This was an unusual case as an application had to be made part way through the Court proceedings for an appointment of a litigation friend for Helen due to capacity issues and to enable her case to continue. We were able to get someone appointed to represent Helen and were able to negotiate a successful outcome for her. The award has made such a big difference to Helen’s daily life.”