Unfair Wills: Inheritance Act claims - contesting a Will that you believe is unfair
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SheridanLaw is able to bring or defend an Inheritance Act claim where someone believes that he or she is being treated unfairly by the terms of a Will and has been unfairly excluded from a Will. These types of Will claims are known as Inheritance Act claims and are a common way in which Wills are contested.
To succeed in an Inheritance Act claim, claimants need to demonstrate that reasonable financial provision should have been made for them in the deceased’s Will or that they have not been sufficiently provided for under the rules of intestacy (the pre-determined rules for distributing assets where the deceased failed to leave a Will).
Only certain categories of people can bring an Inheritance Act claim contesting the terms of a Will. These are:
o The deceased’s spouse (or registered civil partner) can dispute the will
o A former spouse (or registered civil partner) of the deceased who has not remarried
o A child of the deceased can contest the will.
o A person who the deceased treated as his or her child contesting a will
o A person who was being maintained by the deceased before he or she passed away.
If you fall into one of these categories and are unhappy with the provision made for you in a Will (or under the rules of intestacy) you may be able to bring an Inheritance Act contesting will claim.
When considering a claim made under the Inheritance Act, rather than looking at the fairness of the will, a court will assess whether the will (or intestacy rules in the absence of a will) made reasonable financial provision for the person making the claim. That said, even though the legal test is not about the fairness of the will, for many clients the belief that a will is unfair is the key reason they wish to bring a claim under the Inheritance Act.
If you believe that you have been unfairly excluded from, or have not been sufficiently provided for, in the Will of someone who has recently passed away please call us on 020 8541 1181 or email us at mail@sheridanlaw.co.uk
