If you believe you have been left without reasonable financial provision from a loved one’s estate, taking legal action can feel overwhelming — particularly when you are already dealing with grief. Understanding the process from beginning to end makes it far less frightening and helps you work effectively with your solicitor to achieve the best possible outcome.
Of all the Inheritance Act claims we handle at NJS Law, those brought by adult children excluded from a parent’s will are among the most emotionally complex. Understanding how the law and the courts approach these cases — what is relevant, what is not, and what you can realistically hope to achieve — is essential before you decide how to proceed.
Few areas of English law cause as much shock and distress as the inheritance rights of cohabiting partners. People who have shared their lives — and often their homes — with someone for decades routinely discover, on that person’s death, that they have no automatic legal right to anything from the estate. If you were not married or in a civil partnership, you are a stranger to the estate as far as the default rules are concerned.
One of the first questions people ask when they contact us about an Inheritance Act claim is: ‘How much is this going to cost me?’ At NJS Law, we believe that access to justice should not depend on your ability to pay legal fees upfront. For eligible Inheritance Act claims, we offer a no win no fee service — formally known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This article explains exactly how that works.
Discovering that your father has left you out of his will is one of the most painful things a person can go through. You are already grieving. And then comes the shock of being excluded in addition.
Discovering that a parent, partner or someone you were close to has left you out of their will — or left you far less than you expected — is deeply distressing. It can feel like a final, irreversible rejection at a time when you are already grieving. But the law may provide a remedy.
If someone close to you has died and their will has left you without adequate financial support, you may have the right to apply to the court under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Eligibility is strictly defined by statute — understanding where you stand is the essential first step. At NJS Law, our specialist contentious probate solicitors handle Inheritance Act claims across England and Wales.This guide explains what interim payments are, when you can get one, how much you can receive, and how the process works.
This is an easy question to ask – but quite a complicated question to answer
There are two types of “Contentious Probate Claim”.
Inheritance Disputes are in the news. Besides the regular reports of cases that have gone to trial that appear in newspapers there have recently been three television programmes about Inheritance Disputes.
