Published on: 14th January 2019

Claim for provision in a Will

In a recent high profile case relating to the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) 1975 Act, a 79 year old lady, Joan Thompson, advanced a claim against her late partner, Wynford Hodge's estate.

Mr Hodge's estate was worth in the region of £1.5m. Ms Thompson and Mr Hodge had been in a loving relationship for 42 years in which they lived together as man and wife, however, critically they never actually married. Mr Hodge left his entire estate to two tenants of his farm, Ms Evans and Mr Berisha. In his Will he stated the following: "I no longer want to leave my residuary estate on trust to pay the income to Joan for her life as this would be a substantial sum and I do not believe she will need it. Also due to Joan's health I believe she would not be able to live in my property independently. I am Joan's main carer and envisage she may have to go in to a home following my death. I confirm Joan has her own finances and is financially comfortable. Joan has her own money and her own savings." Unfortunately, Mr Hodge was mistaken. Ms Thompson had very limited means of a little more than £2,000 to her name and she considered that she was more than capable of living independently.

Upon hearing Ms Thompson's claim the court held that she was entitled to "such financial provision as it would be reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the applicant to receive for her maintenance" and awarded her a cottage worth £225,000, a modest sum to cover renovation costs and £160,000 for future maintenance and care. In total the court awarded Ms Thompson approximately £415,000 equating to approximately one quarter of the estate.

By contrast, had Ms Thompson been Mr Hodge's wife she may have fared altogether better. This is because a different standard of provision applies to surviving spouses / civil partners. A surviving spouse / civil partner is entitled to such provision as is reasonable in all the circumstances, whether or not such provision is required for his or her maintenance. Any other applicant i.e. a cohabitee, is only entitled to such provision as is necessary for his or her maintenance. It is likely that, if Ms Thompson had married Mr Hodge, she would have received at least half of his estate, if not all of it.

If you are concerned that a member of your family may challenge your Will, using the 1975 Act, to increase their inheritance then there are planning techniques available to reduce the likelihood of the claim succeeding. If you would like to meet with one of our Consultants to discuss any of the issues raised in this article or any other Estate Planning topic please telephone 01732 868190 or click here. Don't delay ~ Act today!

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