Vlad Macdonald-Munteanu reviews the quantification of awards under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for elderly claimants ‘The take-away point is to help the court help you by ensuring that all figures are backed up with evidence and, where appropriate, expert reports.’ For many years, practitioners and judges alike have grappled with …
Continue reading "1975 Act claims: What is ‘maintenance’?"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2018 #173The claimant was a cohabitant with the late Sarah Elizabeth Campbell (‘deceased’) at 3 Westville Road, Thames Ditton (‘property’). The deceased had previously been married to Neil Robert Campbell, with whom she had a son, the defendant. Mr Campbell died on 27 October 1992 and, a year or two later, a romantic relationship developed between the claimant and the deceased. In around 2001, the claimant moved into the property to live with the deceased though he continued to stay with his elderly mother for several days and nights each week until she died in 2010. The claimant’s relationship w...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2018 #173M and S married in September 2000. They had met in 1987, purchased their first home together in 1988 and developed a business (WP Ltd) together. S had a child from a previous relationship, whom M had treated as his own daughter. M and S had a child (J) together in 1994; J suffered from hemiplegia, paralysis to one side of the body, and learning difficulties. In 2007, B started working with M and they started an affair. In 2010 M made his will, appointing S to be his executor and leaving his estate to her. At about the same time M and S bought another property, Poplar Court. In 2012 M and...
Michael Radnor provides an analysis of the Court of Appeal decision in Lewis v Warner as to what constitutes reasonable financial provision ‘Maintenance, and thus the applicant‘s need, does not need to be purely financial as it is “flexible and falls to be assessed on the facts of each case“, and therefore could include the …
Continue reading "Inheritance Act: Defining maintenance"
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Simon Morris reviews a perennial classic on Inheritance Act claims Ross on Inheritance Act Claims (4th ed) Author: Sidney Ross Published by: Sweet & Maxwell Publication date: 22 September 2017 ISBN: 9780414060814 £199.00 Over the course of recent years I have come to consider Ross on Inheritance Act Claims as an indispensable guide to a …
Continue reading "Book review: Every base covered"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Winter 2018 #170The applicant, Mr Warner, was the unmarried partner of the deceased. Before her death they had lived together for 19 years at a property in Tewkesbury. Mr Warner continued to live in this property after her death. Mrs Lewis, the daughter of the deceased, brought a claim in the County Court for possession of the property and for the return of certain items under the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977. Mr Warner defended this claim, and made a separate application for relief under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (‘the 1975 Act’). It was agreed by the pa...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Winter 2018 #170The appellant, Matthew Miles, one of the original beneficiaries under the will of the deceased, appealed from the order of district judge Harper dated 16 December 2016. The application before the judge was for reasonable provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 made by Marion Miles, Matthew Miles’ mother. The judge had ordered that all of the deceased’s estate should go to Marion.
There was no appeal from any of the other beneficiaries. It was accepted that the deceased had not made reasonable provision for Marion. The sole issue was ...
Emma Collins provides a summary of case law developments regarding claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 ‘The charities’ claim was not on a par with that of the claimant, but while the charities’ claim was not based on personal need, they depended heavily on testamentary bequests for their work.’ Family …
Continue reading "Contentious probate: Beyond the grave"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2017 #169The Deceased was married to James Ball. They had had eleven children, including the three claimants and eight of the nine defendants. In or around 1991, the family split, when the three claimants reported their father to the police for sexually abusing them when they were younger. The Deceased felt that the complaints were exaggerated, and was annoyed that they had been made public. As a result, on 27 May 1992 the Deceased made a will excluding those three claimants from benefit, dividing her estate between her eight remaining children and one of her grandsons. The will was professional ...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2017 #169By a will dated 7 July 2015 Stanley Nahajec (‘deceased’) left the whole of his estate valued at £265,710 to the defendant whom he appointed as sole executor. The deceased died on 19 July 2015 and a grant of probate to the defendant was issued on 15 October 2015. The claimant, who was one of three adult children of the deceased, brought a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (‘Act’) on 12 April 2016. One of her half siblings, Mark Nahajec, similarly made a claim under the act which was settled by a payment of £22,000 though his circumstances differed ...
