Who can make an Inheritance Act claim?
Short answer
Six categories only: spouses and civil partners, former spouses who have not remarried, cohabitants of at least two years, children of any age, people treated as a child of the family, and anyone the deceased was maintaining. Siblings and parents cannot claim unless maintained.
The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 does not attack the will. It accepts the will — or the intestacy rules — as valid and asks the court to redistribute part of the estate anyway, because the result fails to make reasonable financial provision for the applicant. English law starts from testamentary freedom, so the Act interferes only for a closed list of people and, for most of them, only up to the level of maintenance.
The qualifying categories
- The spouse or civil partner of the deceased.
- A former spouse or civil partner who has not remarried — unless a clean break order on the divorce barred future claims, which is standard in most settlements.
- A cohabitant who lived in the same household as the deceased, as if married, for the whole of the two years immediately before the death.
- A child of the deceased, at any age.
- Someone treated as a child of the family — typically a stepchild raised by the deceased.
- Anyone being maintained, wholly or partly, by the deceased immediately before the death.
Siblings, parents and grandchildren are conspicuously absent unless they fit the "maintained" category. Cohabitants who fall short of two years often still qualify that way, if the deceased was housing them or covering their living costs.
What the court awards, and by when
There are two standards. A surviving spouse or civil partner can claim provision that is reasonable whether or not required for maintenance, and courts often cross-check against what they might have received on a divorce. Everyone else is limited to what is reasonable for their maintenance — meeting everyday living costs, not enrichment.
The court works through the section 3 factors: the applicant's needs and resources now and in future, the needs of the beneficiaries, the obligations the deceased owed, the size of the estate, any disability, and conduct including the reasons given for the will. In Ilott v The Blue Cross the Supreme Court restored a modest £50,000 award to an estranged adult daughter living on benefits — confirming that adult children can succeed, while making clear that testamentary freedom carries real weight. Comfortably self-supporting adults rarely win.
The claim must be issued within six months of the grant. Lodge a standing search so you know the moment it issues, and issue protectively rather than relying on a standstill agreement, which does not bind the court. Costs generally follow the event, so an applicant who overreaches can finish worse off than they started.
Related guides
Inheritance Act 1975 Claims
A valid will can still leave someone in genuine need with nothing — and the intestacy rules can do the same. The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 is the safety valve: it lets a defined list of people ask the court to order "reasonable financial provision" from the estate, even where the will is perfectly valid. But it is not a general fairness law — only qualifying applicants can use it, most must show a maintenance need, and the claim must normally be issued within six months of the grant of representation.
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