Can you make an Inheritance Act claim?
The Inheritance Act 1975 lets certain people ask the court for reasonable provision when a will — or the intestacy rules — leaves them without enough. This checker asks about your relationship to the person who died and your circumstances, then indicates whether a claim may be open to you. It is a guide, not advice on your case.
How it works
The checker asks how you were connected to the person who died — spouse, former spouse, child, cohabitant, or someone they maintained — and about your financial situation. Only certain categories of people can bring a claim, so this is the first thing it checks.
A claim is not about whether the will is valid. It accepts the will but asks the court to adjust what you receive, on the basis that reasonable financial provision was not made for you. What counts as reasonable depends on your relationship and needs.
Time is critical. A claim must usually be brought within six months of the grant of probate or letters of administration. The court can sometimes allow a late claim, but you should never count on it — the safe course is to act well within the six months.
The result is an indication of whether you may be eligible, not a view on what a court would award. If it suggests you may have a claim, the next step is prompt advice, because the time limit moves quickly.
Questions about Can you make an Inheritance Act claim?
Yes. The Act applies where someone dies without a will and the intestacy rules leave you without reasonable provision, just as it applies where there is a will. The intestacy rules can leave cohabitants and stepchildren with nothing, which is a common trigger.
No. It accepts the will as valid but asks the court to adjust what you receive because reasonable provision was not made for you. Challenging whether a will is valid — on capacity or undue influence, say — is a separate kind of claim.
No. It indicates whether you may fall within the categories that can claim, based on what you enter. Whether a claim succeeds, and what a court might award, depends on the full circumstances and needs proper advice.
You normally have six months from the date of the grant of probate or letters of administration. The court has a discretion to allow a late claim, but it is not guaranteed, so it is important to act quickly and not rely on an extension.
Yes. Anything you share is treated in confidence, and nothing you enter into the checker is stored unless you submit the callback form.
The court weighs your financial needs and resources, those of other beneficiaries, your relationship with the person who died, the size of the estate, and any obligations the deceased had towards you. Spouses are judged by a more generous standard than other applicants.
It is a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, asking the court to award you reasonable financial provision from the estate of someone who has died, where the will or intestacy rules did not make adequate provision for you.
Only certain categories of people: a spouse or civil partner, a former spouse who has not remarried, a child (including an adult child), someone treated as a child of the family, a cohabitant of at least two years, and anyone the person was maintaining.
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