The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (“the Act”) allows certain persons (namely spouses, former spouses, children and people maintained by the deceased) to make a claim against a deceased person’s estate if the terms of the deceased’s will (or the application of the Intestacy Rules) does not make ‘reasonable financial provision’ for the applicant.

The deadline for making such a claim is 6 months from the Grant of Probate or Grant of Letters of Administration but what happens if the 6 month deadline is missed?

When the deadline is missed, such claims may still be considered by the court but it is by no means guaranteed that the court will consider out of time claims. It is a matter of the Court’s discretion.

The recent case of Begum v Ahmed (2019) considered the exercise of the Court’s discretion to consider claims made under the Act which are out of time. This case shows that where the balance of prejudice and justice weighs in favour of considering a claim made under the Act out of time, such claims are more likely to succeed.

This case concerned the estate of Mr Khan. Mr Khan had made a will excluding his wife, Mrs Begum. The estate was small and basically comprised a house in Dudley, West Midlands worth around £135,000. A grant of probate was obtained on 11 April 2016 but due blunders on the part of Mrs Begum’s solicitor, a claim under the Act was not commenced until 2 February 2018.

The court placed significant weight on the fact that the estate had not been distributed. In addition, the court considered the effect that refusing permission would have on the applicant namely her losing her home of 25 years. Permission to consider the application outside the deadline was granted so Mrs Begum will now have her claim under the Act properly considered by the Court.

Inheritance disputes are very fact-specific and parties must take advice as a matter of urgency to ensure that claims can be issued on time, if possible. When considering these types of inheritance disputes, the court will consider all of the relevant factors and will decide what is ‘right and proper’ when considering an out-of-time application.

If you would like information about an inheritance dispute, will disputes, challenging a will, contesting a will or probate disputes, please call 01902 424927 and ask to speak to one of our specialist contentious probate lawyers.

We offer a free initial free consultation and we can often act for clients who want to contest a will or commence an inheritance dispute/probate dispute on a no win no fee basis.

Alternatively, please e-mail us at contentiousprobate@georgegreen.co.uk providing a brief summary of the issues you wish to discuss with us, along with your contact details.

We have a dedicated practice team of contentious probate solicitors, covering all areas of the UK (with offices near Birmingham and in Wolverhampton) who are experienced in dealing with all types of contentious probate matters, including challenging a will and estate disputes.