CONTESTING A WILL WITH WILLCLAIM SOLICITORS NO WIN NO FEESPECIALISTS – A CASE OF DRAMATIC AND UNEXPECTED CHANGE

Will claim Solicitors, specialist no win no fee will dispute and will contest Solicitors, discuss an adult child claim they have recently settled winning 50% of the estate in the process

A case study – adult child claim for financial provision wins 50% of the estate

It’s the same old story; an adult child (the deceased’s only child in fact) is completely disinherited by her late mother who left the entire estate to a non-blood related friend who had only known her just a few short years.

Adult children in general are not “favoured applicants” in relation to claims for financial provision under s. 2 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 [“the Act”] which is not intended to overturn the right of an individual in England and Wales to leave his/her estate to anyone (or to charity) even if it disenfranchises children, partners, or their spouse. Whilst young children and the deceased’s spouse have certain entrenched rights (the spouse because of a legal right enshrined in the Act), adult children are a distinctly unfavoured group – in fact not so long ago when I (by misfortune – Counsel was ill) had to appear before a High Court Judge, it took me quite some time to persuade her that adult children were entitled to bring a claim at all. Given I am at best a reluctant advocate, this to me, was quite traumatic.

For further musings in one of our older blogs, please consider:
How Hard Is It for an Adult Child to Bring a Claim for Financial Provision Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 – Will Claim Solicitors

Winning 50% of the estate is extraordinary

I am writing about this case because the outcome is extraordinary. On the face of it, the claim did not bear the hallmarks of one which we could win at all (although we took it on and ran with it anyway under a no win no fee arrangement):

• client was married, her husband worked in a reasonably well paid job and the family finances were not unusual (albeit under strain)
• client’s health was not a particular issue (but her children did have issues requiring her additional support at home)
• client “confessed” to no relationship at all with her mother (whom she described by referring to her by her christian name and not as “mother” and with some venom)
• there was no material dependency and client had been independent financially for many years.

There were though hints of other issues which came through but frankly I quite liked this client and was curious about the true circumstances as it appeared the deceased had had mental health issues and befriended a much younger male friend, who stood to inherit the lot.
The Will however had been carefully prepared by a reputable firm of Solicitors.

Actually not so extraordinary after all!

So the circumstances were not very encouraging but sadly (for my client) they changed dramatically part way through the case when her hard working and steadfast husband was diagnosed with a potentially life-changing health issue and certainly one which prevented him from working or contemplating working into the short to medium term. As she had been forced to stay at home because of her children’s health issues, the family finances were likely to be dramatically curtailed; homelessness was a reasonable prospect.

The case suddenly went from relatively weak to one that was very much on point with Lord Hughes commentary at paragraph 17 of the Supreme Court Judgment in the leading case of Ilott v Mitson [2017] UKSC 17 to the effect that a dramatic and unforeseen change in circumstance could mean that notwithstanding when the Will was made it was a reasonable decision by the deceased, it was no longer reasonable after the change (in circumstances) justifying an award under the Act.

Lord Hughes remarks were considerably on point with our client’s case:
The deceased may have acted reasonably at the time that his will was made, but the circumstances of the claimant may have altered, for example by supervening chronic illness or incapacity, and the deceased may have been unaware of the full circumstances, or unable to make a new will in time.

If you consider any of these facts and matters are of interest, are likely to apply to you, or you would like to ask us for more information about our no win no fee arrangement, or you simply want us to assess your claim, then please do not hesitate to contact us for a confidential no strings chat and/or visit us at www.willclaim.com.

We provide details about our no win no fee arrangements at https://www.willclaim.com/nowin-no-fee/.