Contesting a Will - The Inheritance Act 1975

The Inheritance Act 1975 is aimed towards those who believe that they have not received 'reasonable financial provision' from the estate of a deceased person, via a Will or through the intestacy rules, and therefore would like to to contest the Will. A person in this situation may be entitled to seek financial support from the deceased estate if, they are a spouse or civil partner; a former spouse/civil partner provided you did not remarry/enter into a new civil partnership; a child of the deceased; a person who was treated as a child of the family of the deceased or any person who is partly or wholly dependent and maintained by the deceased.

Claims for a financial provision need to be made within 6 months of the date of grant of representation, on occassion the court does have discretion to allow claims to come forth if they are outside of the time limit. However, a claim can only be made if the deceased was domiciled in England and Wales. A claim under The Inheritance Act 1975 is for a person to become a beneficiary or obtain a greater beneficial share of the deceased estate. The objective of the Inheritance Act is to make a redistribution of the deceased's estate between the said beneficiaries and the person contesting the Will or intestacy rules, on the grounds that the disposition of the deceased's estate by the Will or effects of the law relating to intestacy, does not make reasonable financial provisions for the applicant.

If you do have a claim under the Inheritance Act 1975, the proceedings can start either in the Chancery or the Family Division of the High Court or County Court. It must be made aware that the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 govern the procedure, except that the provisions of the Family Proceedings Rules 1991 relating to drawing up and service of orders will also apply. The person contesting the Will or law governing intestacy, has to issue a claim through a Part 8 claim form and attach a detailed witness statement.

There are four tests which need to be satisfied before an application can be made under the Inheritance Act 1975. Firstly, the deceased must have domiciled in England and Wales at the time of their death; The applicant must have the connection with the deceased either as the spouse or civil partner, a former spouse or former civil partner of the deceased who has not formed a subsequent marriage or civil partnership, a child of the deceased, any person who was treated by the deceased as a child of the family, or any person who was maintained or dependent wholly or partly by the deceased; the applicant must be alive at the time of the application and remain alive until its determination; and the application is made within 6 months of the grant of probate/ representation.

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