HOW CAN A
DISHEARTENED
BENEFICIARY
CONTEST A
WILL?
It is such a shame that in todays’ society, will
disputes are becoming increasingly common.
Reasons for this of course vary but it is generally
down to “who gets what” and the value of the
estate which is involved in the decision making
when contesting a Will. doesn’t make “reasonable provision for them”.
In these cases, they aren’t seeking to prove that
the Will is invalid, just that provision should
have been made for them. The second is a claim
that the Will itself is invalid for some reason so
the whole Will fails.
When a loved one passes away, this can be
devastating for friends and family. Even moreso
when they find they have been written out of
a Will or not received as much inheritance as
they expected to. The grief can soon change to
feelings of pure spite towards the deceased. We’ll look at the common ‘provision claim’ first.
There are various reasons for someone not being
provided for in a Will which includes not having
spoken to the person for some time, strained
relations with the child, separation from their
husband or simply a child already being very
wealthy and not needing the inheritance. We’ve
even had these reasons given in the letter of
wishes – “my daughter would not watch football
with me, my son refused to support the same
football team as me.” Sounds random but these
are real reasons given by testators…notice a
theme? Certain relatives and dependents can claim
under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and
Dependants) Act 1975 on the grounds that
the distribution of the estate does not make
reasonable financial provision for them.
Either way, being written out of a Will can not
only cause problems within the family but this
is where inheritance disputes occur and matters
become contentious.
There are two different approaches to
contesting a Will. The first is a challenge by a
disappointed beneficiary who feels that the will
10
the society of will writers
Claims that the Will failed to Make
Reasonable Provision
Who Can Challenge a Will for Provision?
The classes of those who can make a claim are
set out below:-
• A spouse or civil partner
• A former spouse or civil partner – they must
not have married or registered a new civil
partnership
• A person who cohabited with the deceased
as husband and wife for 2 years prior to the
deceased’s date of death.
• A child
• A person treated as a child of the family (e.g.
stepchild)
• A financial dependant