In a recent case, Miles Anor v Shearer, the Judge has ruled that two adult children are not entitled to receive any maintenance payments (or, indeed, any lump sum payments) from their late father’s estate. The case has highlighted the fact that the Court will not make financial provision for an adult child where it considers that they are not in any real financial need, even if the estate is large. 

According to an article in todayswillsandprobate.co.uk, the claim was brought by two daughters of Tony Shearer, who sadly died in 2017. Mr Shearer’s daughters were adults, and they brought their claim on the basis that the Will did not make reasonable provision for them and they had a need for maintenance. The claim was brought under s1(1)(c) of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (“the 1975 Act”). 

 

At trial, the Judge held that both daughter’s needs did not fall within the criteria of a claim under the 1975 Act, and stated that a deceased person was under no obligation to support an adult child. He also commented on the fact that Mr Shearer had made clear during his lifetime that he would not support his daughters financially anymore, after making gifts to them in 2008 of £177,000 and £185,000, respectively. The Judge continued that the lifestyle choices made by the deceased’s daughters were not dependent upon the expectation of receiving any assistance from their father under his Will. 

Our local solicitors for Probate would take from this case that not all claims brought under the 1975 Act will be successful, especially when the claimants are unable to effectively demonstrate a financial need. In our team’s experience, it is not uncommon that an adult child would have the expectation that they will benefit from their parent’s estate. However, as seen in many cases brought by adult children under the 1975 Act, this is not always the case. If you feel that you should have received provision from your parent’s estate, you should consider carefully whether you meet the criteria for a successful claim. In addition, you should always seek expert legal advice before issuing any proceedings. 

At MG Legal, our expert team can offer you a fixed fee initial consultation to discuss your matter, and to explain the provisions of the 1975 Act and the grounds that a person has for making a claim against an estate. You can read about our fees, here. 

 

Whilst we can offer fixed-fee consultations in a variety of matters, in some cases there may be more complex matters involved that our team do not specialise in and can therefore not provide advice on, and we may therefore be unable to offer an initial consultation to advise you. Our team will confirm whether we are able to advise you as part of your initial enquiry, and if we are able to assist, we will arrange an initial appointment for you to discuss your matter with our expert team. 

 

With claims under the 1975 Act, our local probate solicitors would usually recommend seeking advice from counsel (also known as a Barrister), which our team can help you to arrange. Any fees charged by counsel would be payable separately from the fees charged by our team. 

You can contact our expert team of local solicitors online, here, or contact your local office directly. 

 

Our team are available during office hours, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. For assistance outside of office hours, email enquiries@mglegal.co.uk and a member of the team will get back to you as soon as possible.