Williams v Martin

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | July/August 2016 #161

Joy Williams brought a claim for reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 against the estate of her deceased partner Norman Martin. Her claim was brought both on the basis that for a period of two years before Mr Martin’s death she had been living in the same household with him as his wife (s1(1)(ba)) and alternatively on the basis that she was wholly or partly maintained by the deceased (s1(1)(e)).

At the date of his death Mr Martin remained married to his wife Maureen Martin, though they ...

Swetenham v Walkley & anr 2CL10307

Wills & Trusts Law Reports | June 2014 #140

The claimant brought a claim for reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance Provision for Family & Dependents Act 1975, against the estate of Alexander Graham Bryce (the deceased), on the basis that she had been living in the same household as the deceased, as his wife, in accordance with s1(A) of the Act. Otherwise, as the deceased had died intestate, his c£600,000 estate fell to be distributed to his numerous intestacy beneficiaries, a class to which the claimant, who was never married to the deceased, did not belong.

The first issue before the court was w...

Fatal Accident Claims: The past is a foreign country

David Regan considers the basis of awards and common pitfalls ‘The Fatal Accidents Act 1976 serves a very important purpose: to protect the rights of dependants who are the secondary victims of torts that have resulted in death.’ The opening line of LP Hartley’s The Go-Between (1953), ‘The past is a foreign country, they do …
This post is only available to members.