Property Law
Pearson Legal
Full Credential Description
META DESCRIPTION: Pearson's Inheritance and Will Dispute Solicitors successfully bring a claim against an estate for a Cohabitee set to lose the family home. Can a Cohabitee bring an Inheritance Act Claim? Can a Cohabitee bring an Inheritance Act Claim? Losing a loved one is a difficult and emotional time, but recently we acted for a client who also faced losing her family home when her cohabitee (partner) died without making a Will, and she was left having to bring an Inheritance Act Claim against the Estate. Can a cohabitee inherit on intestacy? When a person dies their Estate will usually be distributed under the terms of their Will. However, if there is no valid Will, it is then distributed under the In this case, the claimant (our client), had been in a relationship with her partner for over 15 years (the Deceased), but they never married. The Deceased had two children from a previous marriage and a child with our client. On his sudden death, the Estate passed equally to his three biological children as the Intestacy Rules do not make provisions for unmarried couples, even when they shared a child and family home. “Every Inheritance Act claim we deal with is unique and comes with its own set of family circumstances, but in this case our client could have been made homeless had she not come to us for advice.” said Inheritance and Will Disputes Solicitor, Laura Pracy. “The couple had planned to marry, had lived together as a family and just as she was coming to terms with his death, our client received a letter threatening possession proceedings to remove her from the family home." “If the Intestacy Rules fail to make provision for you from the Deceased’s Estate, you may still be eligible to bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 and that is what we did here,” added Laura. In this case the Deceased’s two older children from his previous relationship had taken no action for years after their father's death and our client continued to live in the family home as she had done prior to the death.