Amy Berry provides practical points on seeking to extend time under s4 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 It is of fundamental import to remember that the divorce fiction, to which the pre-acquired/non-matrimonial asset issue relates, is only one aspect of the s3 criteria that the court must weigh when considering …
Continue reading "The 1975 Act: Applying the principles"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2020 #179A widow brought a claim for reasonable financial provision to be made for her from her late husband’s estate. The claim was brought 25 years and nine months after the six-month time limit mandated by s4 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
At first instance Chief Master Marsh, exercising the broad discretion afforded by s4 of the 1975 Act, gave permission for the claim to be brought, notwithstanding the extremely long time since the six-month period had expired: see Bhusate v Patel.
The facts of the...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2020 #178The claimant, who was born in the Philippines, married Michael Frederick Hendry (the deceased) on 31 October 2003. He was 20 years older and already had three adult children. They entered into a pre-nuptial agreement which provided that in the event of the marriage failing the claimant would receive a lump sum of £10,000 and a one-way flight to the Philippines. In the event, they separated on 24 June 2016. The deceased made a will on 6 August 2016 dividing his residuary estate equally between the first and second defendants and appointing the third defendant as executor. The claimant pet...
William East reviews two recent cases on out-of-time 1975 Act claims with different outcomes ‘The decision that “excusable delay” should be for “weeks or, at most, months”, absent “highly exceptional factors”, begs the question of what those factors might be and whether this sets the bar too high given the shortness of the initial time …
Continue reading "The 1975 Act: The clock is ticking… or is it?"
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