Legal standing
Only certain people have the right to dispute inheritance legally. The criteria includes your relationship to the person who has passed away, and depends on the type of dispute. This is called your legal standing.
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Financial Provision
Inheritance arrangements can be disputed on the grounds of requiring what is known as ‘reasonable financial provision’.
What does this mean?
In other words, if you were dependent on financial support from someone who has recently died and this support stopped as a result of their passing, the courts can award you with a greater share of the inheritance based on your financial need.
These types of disputes are based on legislation which was introduced to ensure people who were financially dependent continue to be provided for.
This legislation is called ‘The 1975 Act’.
Only people with certain relationships can dispute inheritance under the 1975 Act. These relationships are outlined in the guidance below.
Will Validity
You can dispute the validity of a will if you were included in a current or previous will, or of you are a direct descendent of the person who has passed away.
‘The 1975 Act’ explained:
Testamentary Freedom
A person who has written a will is known as a ‘Testator’.
UK law recognises that a person has the right to decide who should receive their assets after they die, and this is known as ‘Testamentary freedom’.
If a person dies without leaving a will, their estate is described as ‘intestate’, and their money and possessions are distributed to their surviving spouses or direct descendants according to the ‘rules of intestacy’.
How can this be disputed?
Even though testamentary freedom exists in the UK, in certain circumstances it is possible to challenge how a person decided to distribute their assets.
This is where ‘The 1975 Act’ comes in…
- The Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975, or “”1975 Act”” for short, was created to allow certain people associated with a deceased person to bring a claim against their estate if they had not been adequately provided for.
If the person’s claim is successful, the courts can rule that the deceased person’s estate should be distributed differently to the terms of their Will.
But, why can their decisions be challenged?
People often question the fairness of challenging how a person decided to distribute their assets. The 1975 Act was created so people who were dependent financially on the deceased person, continue to be provided for.
The courts can change the distribution of a person’s estate where there is judged to be a failure to make reasonable financial provision for these dependent people. If they relied on this financial support to cover the cost of living, the 1975 ensures they continue, where possible, to receive that financial support.
How do the courts assess 1975 Act claims?
When challenging inheritance arrangements under the 1975 Act, an applicant must demonstrate that the provision actually made (which might be no provision at all) is not reasonable. The courts will only award provision that is reasonably necessary for the maintenance of the applicant. The reasonable standard means the applicant should be able to live ‘at neither a luxurious nor poverty stricken level’.
The courts will assess:
1 – The financial needs and resources of the applicant. IE. How much do they need to support their lives, and how much do they have?
2 – The financial needs and resources of the other people included in the will.
3 – Any obligations and responsibilities which the deceased had towards the applicant or other beneficiaries.
4 – The size and nature of the estate.
5 – The physical and mental health of the applicant or other beneficiaries.
6 – Any other matter, including the conduct of the applicant or any other person, which in the circumstances of the case the court may consider relevant.
To challenge inheritance arrangements under the 1975 Act, the applicant must provide a detailed case using the above factors to present an argument as to why the estate should provide reasonable provision for them, and why in the current circumstances it does not.
Who can challenge inheritance arrangements under the 1975 Act?
Individuals who can make a claim include:
Spouses or civil partners
Former spouses or civil partners
Cohabitees
Children of the deceased
People who were treated as a child by the deceased
Awards for spouses or Civil partners:
Surviving spouses or civil partners can claim more under the 1975 Act, because the court can take into account the standard and style of living and reasonable expectations of the applicant, including what they might have expected to get if the relationship had ended with divorce instead of death, and that may well exceed what they need for their day to day maintenance.
If I were to make a claim, is there a way of checking if it is relevant under the 1975 act ?
Yes there is! At IDR we have created a tool that can help you understand the legal issues around these disputes and give you an instant answer to whether anything can be done to resolve your situation.
The tool asks a series of questions covering the typical issues people face in an inheritance dispute situation. It provides detailed guidance to help users understand whether they have the right to dispute and then advises on the likelihood of success based on their situation.
