If you relied on a person for financial support and that person dies but fails to provide for you after their death (or leaves you only a small amount from their estate) you could potentially make a claim for “reasonable financial provision” from their estate.

The first thing for the court to decide upon is whether it was unreasonable for the person who died not to leave you anything; or whether it was unreasonable for you to receive such a small amount from the estate of the person who died.

If a court decides that it was unreasonable, then the court moves onto decide whether you should be paid an amount (or a greater amount) from the estate.

It is important to note that your claim would not be based upon what you think is fair. For example, if the person who had died has left their entire estate to one person and you are making a claim for “reasonable financial provision”, you would not simply receive half of the estate because this seems to be a fair division of the estate between you and the other person.

A claim is assessed purely on the level of your financial dependence on the person who died. This means that your claim is based on your actual financial needs. Those needs are usually linked to some sort of ongoing living expenses or accommodation needs. However, every claim depends on an individual’s own circumstances and the evidence they can provide in support of those needs.

The court has a number of factors which they take into account. These are:

· Your current financial position and needs, both now and in the near future.

· Any obligations that the person who died had towards you.

· The size of the estate and the nature of the assets contained within the estate.

· Any physical or mental disabilities which you may have.

· Anything else which would be relevant to your particular claim, such as your age, any contribution you made to the household, the length of time you were in a relationship with, or married to, the person who died.

Following on from the last point above, if you were the husband or wife of the person who died, the courts often assess any claim by looking at what you would have been entitled to receive if your marriage had ended in divorce rather than death.

This also applies if you were in a civil partnership with the person who died.

The courts have to balance any needs you may have against the interests of the people who do stand to inherit from the person who has died. In circumstances where the value of an estate is not particularly large, this can be a difficult balancing act.

If your claim is successful, there are different ways for you to receive the “financial provision” which you have been awarded. This could be by a lump sum of money; regular payments of money; giving you a right live in a property; or even the transfer of ownership of a property or other asset to you.