Who can bring a claim under the Inheritance Act?

The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 gives the court the power to amend the way an estate is distributed, whether it is due to be distributed pursuant to the terms of a Will or the rules of intestacy. The act allows certain categories of people to bring a claim against an estate and seek money that they were not previously being provided from the estate.

Who can claim under the Inheritance Act?

Not everyone can bring a claim under the act – if you wish to bring a claim, you must fit into one of the following categories:

1. Spouse of the deceased – This includes both married and civil partners of the deceased who were together at the time of the deceased’s death. If you had been married previously, but later divorced, you are no longer able to pursue a claim under this particular category.

1. Former spouse of the deceased – As a former partner of the deceased, you may still be financially supported by the deceased by arrangements such as a divorce settlement agreement. Such support would need to have been in place at the time immediately prior to the death. A person may not be deemed eligible to bring a claim if they re-married since separating from the deceased.

1. Child of the deceased – Being a child of the deceased makes you eligible to pursue a claim in the first instance. This includes adult children and well as minors. This category also includes adopted children as well as persons treated as a child of the deceased.

1. Any person being financially maintained by the deceased – To be eligible to bring a claim under the Inheritance Act, a person must have been financially maintained by the deceased immediately prior to the date of their death. If financial maintenance was sporadic, this may impact your eligibility under this category.

1. Cohabitee of the deceased – If you were living with the deceased prior to their death, you may be eligible to pursue a claim under this section of the Inheritance Act.

Whilst there are a variety of categories of people that may be eligible to pursue a claim under the act, just because you fall into one of these categories does not always mean that you will be able to bring a claim under the Inheritance Act. You must also evidence that you have been left without, and are in need of, financial provision.

What does reasonable financial provision mean?

If a claimant has greater outgoings than income each month, or has debts that they are struggling with, this would often suggest a need for financial provision from the estate. A claimant may be able to manage their monthly finances at present, but have large debts that prohibit them from improving their financial position.

A claimant can only pursue a sum of money that they reasonably require to support their financial needs. The purpose of the claim is not to place the claimant in a significantly better financial position than they practically require.

If the deceased left a Will, the estate will be distributed pursuant to the terms of the Will. If you are a beneficiary under this Will, you may still be able to bring a claim under the Inheritance Act if it does not provide you with reasonable financial provision. If you are not a beneficiary, then it is more apparent that you have been left without reasonable financial provision.

If the deceased did not leave a Will then the estate will be distributed pursuant to the rules of intestacy. As with a Will, your position on whether you have been left with reasonable financial provision can be assessed whether you are due to be a beneficiary or not.

Conclusion

Bringing a claim under the Inheritance Act is a complex task due the variety of elements involved in considering whether a claim has strong prospects of success.

It is important to seek advice on bringing a claim under the Inheritance Act as soon as possible, as these claims are subject to limitation periods which, if missed, result in you not being able to bring a claim.

Article by Jordan Davies, Solicitor

If you need advice on bringing a claim under the Inheritance Act please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our specialist inheritance dispute solicitors on 0330 013 0426