Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2020 #179The claimant daughter brought a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for provision out of the estate of her late father. The sole beneficiary of his estate was his widow, who was in residential care with severe health concerns, but who had been debarred from defending the proceedings by reason of non-compliance with earlier court orders. The claimant had been estranged from her parents since 2010 and had a number of health difficulties which made her unable to work. She lived in rented accommodation with two children, whose father visited them daily ...
Amanda Noyce examines recent case law to determine whether success fees are recoverable in 1975 Act claims These cases are intrinsically extremely dangerous for lawyers to undertake, particularly since the decision in Ilott. Move over Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice; if there was ever a prize for the best opening line, HHJ Gosnell’s comments in …
Continue reading "Inheritance Act claims: The winner takes it all?"
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Francis Ng outlines a rare modern example of rescission for mistake in hostile proceedings Clarke is unusual in that it is a rare modern example of rescission for mistake in hostile proceedings. Deputy Master Linwood gave judgment in Clarke v Allen on 23 May 2019. The decision covered two claims by Matilda Clarke (Matilda). One …
Continue reading "Mistake and Inheritance Act claims: Unintended consequences"
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Simon Blain and Hannah Mantle consider whether nuptial agreements have a role to play as to the division of assets on death ‘Where such a qualifying agreement purports to preclude claims being made pursuant to I(PFD)A 1975, such a provision is likely to weigh heavily in the court’s decision-making process.’ Provision may be made within …
Continue reading "Inheritance claims: Looking to the future"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2019 #175The claimant applied for an order under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (the 1975 Act), s2, against the estate of her deceased husband (the deceased). Probate of the deceased’s will was granted on 16 December 2016 and the application was made on 8 November 2018. Under s4 of the 1975 Act, except with the permission of the court any application for an order under s2 was to be made within six months of the date of the grant. This was an application for permission to make the substantive application out of t...
Jamie Randall examines a case of an aristocratic family estrangement and an adult claim under the 1975 Act ‘Although the starting point is testamentary freedom, there is no escaping that the purpose of the Act is to give effect to some sort of moral obligation to provide for surviving family members and dependants.’ In Wellesley …
Continue reading "The 1975 Act: Drink, drugs and bohemia"
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Geoffrey Shindler examines whether the current system does justice for children excluded from a parent’s will ‘The one thing that seems to be certain in English law is that this issue remains an important but entirely uncertain area.’ As Leo Tolstoy reminded us, in Anna Karenina, ‘All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy …
Continue reading "Musings from Manchester: Unhappy families"
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Mark Blackett-Ord reports on an unusually successful award for adult children under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 ‘If the first instance judge concluded that the amount that he was provisionally awarding to each claimant was not excessive for that claimant’s maintenance, and that it was all the estate could afford, then …
Continue reading "1975 Act claims: Accommodating need"
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Juliet Petchey considers practical points arising from a case contemporary with Ilott that was also based on the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 ‘Practitioners will recognise the scenario that, having taken advice, the defendant soon demanded the claimant leave the house in order that he could realise his inheritance. The defendant considered …
Continue reading "The 1975 Act: Increasingly relevant"
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