Have you ever tried to defend an Inheritance Act 1975 claim?

[Hobbledehoy]

Just that really.
How was your experience? What did you learn? Any suggestions or advice on defending such a claim or warding off such a claim?

bump?

It depends on the validity of the claim, but if it is an obvious win e.g. minor children then advice would be to settle early before legal costs escalate.

If you don't pay for legal advice then you're fools. Costs can mount up. Beneficiaries are getting something from the estate. Time to apply some of that to advice.

These cases are entirely fact specific you should get legal advice

Hi sorry, only just seen that I got replies on the thread!

I'm not sure to what extent it would be an 'obvious' claim... if it came to pass, it would be a claim by a relatively old person, in a relationship for a few years, heavily dependent and with next to no means of their own...

Obviously in the event that a claim was made I would definitely get legal advice. I'm just trying to find out what it's like defending a claim, in general...

I suppose it would depend on what grounds the claim was made…is it an u married partners living together with the deceased’s estate going to children, with no provision for the unmarried partner?

I’d imagine defending a will would be quite emotionally gruelling, never mind the financial cost

@Whatthediddlyfeck yup, pretty much that!

I’ve no idea of the legalities but depending on the survivors age you’d probably need to look at staying in the house for life being cheaper than a legal bill…neither would be ideal

I get the impression that all the advice is just roll over and settle... it seems so unfair. The dependency is almost total, but the relationship isn't that long. It feels like because awards are made very much on a 'needs' basis, there's a high chance a court would be inclined to make an award

added complication is that the person couldn't stay in the house on their own because of their care needs.... so life interest in home probably wouldn't be an option

I'm flabbergasted that the law basically does away with testamentary freedom in situations such as the one I've described, and the wide-ranging powers of the courts mean that beneficiaries are basically forced to settle because of the uncertainty of going to court

You need very specific legal advice, it would be worth a few hundred quid to find out what the definitive legal position is.

This sounds like an absolute nightmare for you. I’m always wary of people having 2nd marriages where children not of that marriage are involved for this reason.
Might it depend on when the will was made? Absolute layman but I’d have thought that the more recent the will, the more robustly it could be defended

Again, not commenting as an expert but you would hope the solicitor who helped to draw up the will would have advised on how best to word it to prevent a successful claim, ie 'I have not made provision for [person] because [reason]'. I have no idea if that would help in the event of a claim but surely it wouldn't hurt.

Hoping it doesn't come to that, OP. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for your replies. Will is about four years old...predates relationship so there's no wording in the will about the reason for not providing for putative claimant.
Does anyone know if the courts pay much attention to agreements whereby the dependant/co-habitee agrees not to make an Inheritance Act claim in the event he would otherwise be in a position to claim?

We tried to defend a claim but in the end, following mediation, we decided to settle. We were advised that if we did indeed allow the case to go to court it would be a "high court" hearing which meant we would have to engage a barrister to represent us rather than our solicitor. We were also told that if the other party choose to prolong things most of the estate could be lost in legal fees.
My late father's bitch of a wife walked away with a settlement £125,000 pounds from mine and my sisters inheritance ( money he had accumulated/saved whilst he was married to my late mother) but this was significantly less than the £400,000 she was initially demanding.......!

Depending on the overall size of the estate and your ability to weather the emotional rollercoaster of fighting over your deceased love ones money I would certainly look at a resolution via mediation.

@Cressidasmum Jeez, poor you. Can I ask you how long your father was in a relationship with his wife? And how old was his will? Did he stipulate in his will the reason for not making 'reasonable provision' for his wife?
I'm just trying to gauge what would be seen as a reasonable outcome by a mediator (albeit not reasonable to you and your sister of course).

You need proper legal advice. However, as the claimant was almost totally financially dependent on the deceased and has care needs, they clearly have a claim for reasonable financial provision. That doesn't mean they will automatically get everything they want. If it goes to court, the judge will look at what is reasonable in the circumstances, taking into account all relevant factors. You shouldn't just roll over, but if a claim is made you should make every attempt to settle before this gets to court.

An agreement made during the deceased's lifetime that the dependent would not make a claim is unlikely to be enforceable but again, you need proper legal advice.

I just can't wrap my head round the fact that a court could force a departure from a person's wishes when the person might have had zero intention of extending their help/maintenance beyond their death. It's so unjust.

Parliament took the view that it is wrong for someone to cut someone who is financially dependent on them out of their will. Prior to the Inheritance Act, a man could (and some men did) leave their entire estate to their mistress, leaving their wife and children penniless. Do you think that was just?

No, clearly in that situation it's not unjust. But there are plenty of scenarios where I think it is unjust. Why should someone effectively be forced to risk their estate by choosing to take in/have a relationship with (not even marry!) someone who happens to be completely penniless/dependent? You can't do that without also risking your inheritance not being passed on to the person you want to pass it on to.

A friend's ex-husband left an estate of £600,000 in the 90s as well as a business. He had a girl-friend and there was no provision in the will. She made a claim and got a car with a personalised plate and £80,000. Don't think she'd known him very long.

But thats not the question is it? Should a man be able to disinherit his wife and children in favour of a mistress...obviously not. Should that mean that a person can't give their assets to their children because a short term mistress/partner etc was dependent on them before their death?

It will depend on the length of the relationship and on the deceased's state of mind and any conversations that were had and can be proved. eg did the deceased discuss with his/her solicitor why they were not changing their will?
Did he/she discuss their wishes with the executor more recently than when the will was made?
How long was the relationship?
What did the claimant give up to move in with the deceased eg did they rent or own a property? Were they disabled at that point? How would they have managed had they not met the deceased?
Our last house was owned by a man who had lived with his partner for about 18 years. His will left the property and the rest of his estate to his adult children from his marriage (he was a widower for many years). They turfed the partner out and sold the house. We only met the estate agent and the house was empty then so didn't know the story until the neighbours told us. She did challenge the will in terms of having an expectation of support but withdrew the case because the advice was the house was his and had no mortgage on it when she met him. He paid all of the bills related to the house. She had sold her own flat when they met many years earlier and still had some of that money- but it was not much of course by then.

Currently going through this so I will be intentionally vague.

Claimant has 6 months from the grant of probate to make the claim or must have a compelling reason why claim was not made in time. Can feel like you are holding your breath during this period.

Is prospective claimant eligible to make a claim and fulfil requirements - were they married or did they live together for more than two years as though married?

It is stressful, absorbs huge amounts of time and effort and is hideously expensive.

If a claim is issued instruct the best solicitor you can afford, gather your evidence together ahead of the claim materialising as you need to file a defence and prepare for a battle. Mediate, mediate and mediate and try to find a resolution but if that fails court is the final step but it will be expensive.