Case summary: Settlement of a daughter’s inheritance claim against her mother’s estate has been reached at mediation
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Our specialist contentious probate team recently represented Mrs B at a successful mediation of her claim against her mother’s estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
The Inheritance Act is designed to protect loved ones who have not received reasonable financial provision from a deceased person’s estate. It gives the court wide powers to override the terms of a will to ensure that justice is done. Claims can be made by spouses and ex-spouses (and civil partners and ex-civil partners), cohabitees, daughters, sons, and ‘children of the family’, and anyone who was financially dependant on the deceased.
Mrs B had been excluded from her mother’s will following a long period of estrangement arising from a family argument that had taken place many years ago. Mrs B herself felt that her exclusion from her mother’s will was unfair, and that she should be entitled to receive financial provision from the estate. We agreed with her, and pursued an Inheritance Act claim, working on her behalf on a no win, no fee basis.
The case was defended by Mrs B’s children, as well as her brother, her niece, and her nephew.
Mediation is a popular way of resolving contentious probate disputes as it is a cheaper and faster alternative to normal court proceedings. In this case all the parties involved in the dispute agreed to take part in a mediation in an attempt to reach an out of court settlement of the inheritance claim.
The mediation was a success. We were able to negotiate a five-figure settlement for Mrs B at the mediation. The settlement also included provision for the estate to fully pay all the legal costs associated with our client’s Inheritance Act claim.
