Inheritance Act Claims

When an individual believes they have been unfairly left out of a will or not adequately provided for, an Inheritance Act claim, also known as a 1975 Act claim, can be made.

Inheritance Act claims are complex and your legal representative should have specialist knowledge. It’s an area of law that solicitors absolutely dedicated to matters of Contentious Probate should be handling.

What is an Inheritance Act Claim?

Individuals have the freedom to leave their estate to whoever they wish in England and Wales. However, the law makes provisions for certain individuals to challenge this under an Inheritance Act claim.

An Inheritance Act claim refers to an application made under the Inheritance (provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. This law allows certain individuals to either challenge the provisions made for that individual in a will (where one exists), or provisions made under rules of intestacy (when someone dies without a will in place).

Who Can Make an Inheritance Act Claim?

You may be able to bring a claim against the estate for reasonable financial provision whether or not there is a will in place if you are:

• A spouse or civil partner of the deceased.
• A former spouse or civil partner who has not remarried or formed a new civil partnership.
• A cohabitee who had lived with the deceased for at least two years ending immediately before their death.
• A child of the deceased.
• A person who was not the deceased’s child but who was treated as a “child of the family”.
• Anyone entirely or partly maintained by the deceased immediately before death

How to Make an Inheritance Act claim

The general process is outlined below. Note that many disputes can be resolved through out-of-court settlement via Alternative Dispute Resolution and we’d always look at these options in your best interest.

1. Seek specialist legal advice – Use a specialist contentious probate solicitor to review your circumstances and assess the claim. We do not recommend using a lawyer who is not a specialist dedicated to matters of Contentious Probate.
2. Negotiation and mediation – Consider Alternative Dispute Resolution such as mediation. This can save both court fees and emotional distress.
3. Court proceedings (if necessary) – If no agreement can be reached, we’ll prepare and submit the claim in full to the courts.

How Napthens can help

Inheritance act claims can be complex and our unrivalled expertise in inheritance and will disputes will allow you to achieve the best possible result, based upon your own personal circumstances.

Our Contentious Probate team is absolutely dedicated to matters such as Inheritance Act claims and are specialists in this alone.

Please note that we both

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