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**Names have been changed to protect our client’s identity.
Mark** as an adult child brought a successful Inheritance Act claim against his father Tony**’s estate and after no provision had been made for him in his father’s Will. His claim was brought outside the statutory time period of 6 months However, we were able to settle the claim at mediation and he has received a significant settlement.
Tony made a will with a firm of solicitors shortly before he died leaving his estate to his sibling. Tony explicitly made no provision for Mark, who at that time was under 18, and was in the care of the local authority.
Tony passed away and the professional executors of his estate proceeded to administer the estate in accordance with the terms of that will.
The executors obtained a Grant of Probate for Tony’s estate and the statutory 6 month time frame for Mark to commence an Inheritance Act claim started running.
Tony, Mark’s father, raised Mark as his only child, and had a close relationship with him until his teenage years. Tony struggled with various personal issues and there was a breakdown in their relationship which ultimately resulted in Mark going into care although Tony and Mark remained in regular contact.
We were approached by Mark’s local authority guardian a few months prior to Mark turning 18 in the summer of 2023 to try and find out what had happened to Tony’s ashes and to try and facilitate the return of some of Mark’s possessions which were at Tony’s house. Upon reviewing the matter it was clear that Mark had strong grounds for a bringing a claim against Tony’s estate under the Inheritance Act on the basis that as Tony’s child, the Will did not make reasonable financial provision for him. However, the 6 month time period for bringing inheritance act claims had by that point already expired. As Mark was under the age of 18 years at that point he was unable to bring a claim on his own behalf, He needed someone to act as his litigation friend. The local authority, as Mark’s legal guardian at that point, were unwilling to deal with Mark’s claim as he was due to shortly turn 18. They would though, agree to us providing notification of a potential Inheritance Act claim to the executors and beneficiary from Mark.
Shortly after Mark turned 18 he made contact with us and instructed us to proceed with an Inheritance Act claim. By this time Mark was approximately 6 months outside the time limits for bringing an Inheritance Act claim (6 months from the date of a Grant of Probate). A claim was prepared and issued at Court, the executors took a neutral stance to the claim and the beneficiary of the estate agreed to mediate the claim. That mediation resulted in a significant settlement for Mark, equating to over half of Tony’s estate which was deemed reasonable for his maintenance.
“We were originally instructed to deal with other issues regarding Tony’s estate but upon us investigating those issues it became clear that Mark had strong grounds for bringing an Inheritance Act claim against the estate.
“Whilst Mark was over 6 months outside the statutory time limits for bringing an Inheritance Act claim, the time limit had expired whilst he was still legally defined as a minor. After Mark turned 18 with our support he acted promptly in pursuing an Inheritance Act claim against the estate.
“This claim is evidence of the fact that successful Inheritance Act claims can still be brought outside the statutory time limits and they should not be considered as a bar on bringing what would otherwise be a strong claim. Each case will though depend on its particular facts”.
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