Making an Inheritance Act claim
How quickly do you need to make a claim for financial provision against an estate under the Inheritance Act after someone has died?
Usually, any claim under the Inheritance Act must be started at Court within 6 months after the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. But the Court does have discretion to allow applications to be made later. In the recently reported case of Bhusate v Patel & Ors [2018] EWHC 2362 (Ch) the Business and Property Court allowed a claim to proceed that was made over 25 years after the Grant of Letters of Administration on 12 August 1991 following the death of Mr Bhusate in April 1990. It is now approaching 29 years since his death.
Although a decision has been made to allow the claim to proceed out of time, the claim itself has not been determined so it remains to be seen whether the claimant will be successful overall.
This decision will be relevant to executors, administrators and named beneficiaries as well as those considering making a claim against an estate.
For further advice or information contact Emma Heather, Rosie Lovett or Kathryn McGeary.
