Defending an Inheritance Act Claim: A Guide for Personal Representatives

Defending an Inheritance Act claim as an executor or administrator

When someone dies and a person believes they have not been adequately provided for from the estate, they may bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. If you are a personal representative (an executor or administrator responsible for administering the estate), defending an Inheritance Act claim may fall to you. This guide explains what that means in practice, what your obligations are, and where the risks lie.

What is an Inheritance Act claim?

The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 allows certain categories of person to apply to the court if they feel the deceased’s estate has not made reasonable financial provision for them. Eligible claimants are a spouse or civil partner; a former spouse or civil partner who has not remarried or formed a subsequent civil partnership; a cohabitant who lived with the deceased as if married or in a civil partnership for the whole of the two years before the death; a child of the deceased, including an adult child; a person treated by the deceased as a child of the family, such as a stepchild; and anyone who was being maintained, wholly or partly, by the deceased immediately before the death. A claim can only be brought if the deceased was domiciled in England and Wales at the date of death.

A successful claim can result in the court redirecting assets from the estate to the claimant. This changes how the estate is distributed, regardless of what the will says.

Claims must generally be brought within six months of the date on which representation is first taken out: in practice, the grant of probate or letters of administration (the legal document that gives a personal representative authority to administer the estate). Since October 2014 a claim can also be issued before a grant has been obtained, so you may be served before you have one. Courts can sometimes allow late claims, so this deadline does not always end the matter.

What happens when a claim is made?

If a claimant contacts you or your solicitor to indicate they intend to make an Inheritance Act claim, take legal advice immediately. Do not distribute the estate.

Distributing assets before a claim is resolved can create serious problems. If you pay out to beneficiaries and the court later awards provision to the claimant, you may be personally liable to make good any shortfall. That risk is real and significant.

The law does give you some cover here, but less than most people expect. Once the six months are up, you cannot be blamed personally for paying out the estate simply because someone might still turn up with a late claim. That is genuinely helpful, but it has two limits. It does not stop the court taking money back from the people you paid it to. And it is no help at all if you paid out knowing a claim was on its way.

There is also a gap in the timing that catches people out. A claimant only has to start their claim within the six months. Having started it, they get another four months to actually deliver the paperwork to you. So you could reach the six-month mark, hear nothing, pay everyone out, and only then find that a claim was started weeks ago and is now heading your way. For that reason the usual advice is to wait around ten months from the grant before you distribute anything.

In practice, when a claim is flagged, you should:

1. Stop any planned distributions until the matter is resolved.
2. Notify all beneficiaries that a potential claim exists.
3. Instruct a solicitor with experience in contentious probate (disputes about estates).
4. Preserve all estate assets and keep clear records of everything you do.

Your role as a personal representative in the proceedings

Personal representatives occupy an unusual position in Inheritance Act proceedings. You are not a defendant in the traditional sense. Your role is to represent the estate, not to take sides with or against the claimant.

When the claim is served on you, you will get a court form called an acknowledgment of service. You have 21 days to fill it in and send it back. Near the top there is a section where you can say that you are staying neutral and will accept whatever the court decides. That is the formal way of putting on record that you are not taking sides. From then on, your job is to give the court a clear and honest picture of the estate and to treat everyone with an interest in it fairly.

What goes into that picture is not left to you. The court rules set out exactly what your written statement has to cover, as far as you know it:

• What the estate is actually worth, once debts, funeral costs, tax and the expenses of administering it have been taken off
• Who stands to inherit, including the names and addresses of anyone still living and what their share is worth
• Whether any of them is under 18, or unable to make their own decisions
• Anything else that might affect what the judge decides

When you are also a beneficiary

That neutral role becomes more complicated if you are also a beneficiary of the estate. This is common. An executor named in a will is often a family member who also inherits under it.

In that situation, you hold two distinct positions at once. As a personal representative, you must act impartially and in the interests of the estate as a whole. As a beneficiary, you have a personal interest in the outcome. Those two positions can pull in different directions.

The court expects you to keep them separate. In practice, this means you should not allow your personal interest as a beneficiary to influence the decisions you make as a personal representative. If the conflict feels unmanageable, your solicitor can advise on whether it is appropriate for you to step back from certain decisions, or whether an independent administrator should be appointed to handle the disputed aspects of the estate.

The beneficiaries, including you in your capacity as a beneficiary, can instruct a solicitor to defend the claim actively. However, you must be clear about which capacity you are acting in at each stage. The costs of an active defence belong to the defence, not automatically to the estate, and your solicitor will help you manage that distinction carefully.

If there is a conflict between what different beneficiaries want, or between a beneficiary’s wishes and your own judgment about the estate’s interests, legal advice becomes even more critical.

Options for resolving an Inheritance Act claim

Defending an Inheritance Act claim does not always mean contested court proceedings. In fact, most claims settle before they reach a final hearing. There are several ways a claim can be resolved.

Negotiated settlement

The most common outcome is a negotiated agreement. This means the personal representatives, the claimant, and the beneficiaries reach a figure that satisfies all parties, without the court imposing a decision. Settlements save time, reduce legal costs, and give all sides more certainty.

Mediation

Mediation is a structured process where an independent third party helps both sides reach an agreement. Courts do more than encourage mediation now. The rules changed in October 2024, and a judge can order both sides to try mediation or something like it before the case goes any further. Refusing is risky. When the court decides who pays the legal bills at the end, it will take into account whether you ignored an order to mediate, or turned down a reasonable chance to settle without a good explanation. That can leave you paying costs even if the rest of the case goes your way. Mediation is confidential and often resolves matters faster than litigation.

Court proceedings

If no agreement is reached, the claim will proceed to court. The court considers several factors: the financial needs of the claimant, the size and nature of the estate, the obligations the deceased had to others, and any other relevant circumstances. Proceedings can be lengthy and costly for all involved.

Bear in mind that once a claim is underway and a grant has been taken out, a claimant in immediate need of financial assistance can ask the court for an interim payment from the estate, rather than waiting for the case to finish. So you may find yourself facing an application for a payment out long before there is any final hearing. For each option, legal representation is important. In contentious probate matters, the stakes are high and the procedural rules are strict.

Your legal obligations as a personal representative

Personal representatives have a duty to administer the estate correctly and in good faith. When a claim arises, those duties become more complex. In particular, you must:

• Not distribute assets once you are aware of a potential or actual claim.
• Act impartially between all parties, including beneficiaries and claimants.
• Engage with the process properly, including responding to correspondence and complying with court deadlines.
• Keep records of all decisions, correspondence, and estate transactions.
• Take advice before agreeing to put things on hold. A claimant will often ask you to agree that they can take longer than six months to bring their claim, so that both sides can try to settle first. This is called a standstill agreement. Be careful: only the court can extend the deadline, so an agreement between you and the claimant does not guarantee they will be allowed to proceed. The safer route for everyone is usually for the claimant to start the claim inside the six months and then ask the court to pause it while you negotiate. Failing to act properly exposes you to a claim of devastavit (a breach of duty by a personal representative that causes loss to the estate, such as misapplying or wasting its assets). This can result in personal financial liability.

Caveats and standing searches

Two probate procedures may surface during a dispute which personal representatives should be aware of. A standing search allows a person to be notified when a grant of representation is issued, and that is the correct tool for someone contemplating an Inheritance Act claim, because the six-month clock runs from the grant.

A caveat is different: it prevents a grant being issued at all, lasts six months and is renewable, and is for disputes about the validity of a will or entitlement to take the grant.

A caveat should not be used to support an Inheritance Act claim. Doing so is treated as an abuse of process and can result in a costs order against the person who entered it. It is also self-defeating, because blocking the grant blocks the very event that starts the claimant’s six-month period, and since 2014 a claim can be issued without a grant anyway. If you find a caveat has been entered on that basis, take advice: it can be warned off. If you encounter either procedure, take advice promptly.

The personal risk to personal representatives

This is the part many personal representatives do not expect. You can face personal liability if you mishandle an estate during contentious proceedings.

If you distribute assets to beneficiaries after becoming aware of a claim, and the claimant is later successful, you may have to meet any shortfall from your own funds. Courts do not always look favourably on personal representatives who pressed ahead regardless.

In addition, if you act in a way that appears to favour one party over another, or if you fail to engage properly with proceedings, the court can make a costs order against you personally. That means you pay the legal costs of another party from your own pocket.

Taking proper legal advice protects you as well as the estate.

Why legal support matters when defending an Inheritance Act claim

Defending an Inheritance Act claim involves procedural rules, strict deadlines, and complex assessments of financial need and family circumstances. Acting without professional support in this area is not advisable.

A solicitor experienced in contentious probate will help you understand your duties, protect you from personal liability, advise on the merits of any claim, and guide you through negotiation or court proceedings as appropriate.

Be careful about assuming the estate will pick up every legal bill. An Inheritance Act claim is an ordinary court case, and in court cases the side that loses normally pays the winner’s legal costs as well as their own. So a claimant who brings a weak claim and loses will usually be ordered to pay the estate’s costs, not the other way round.

What you can generally rely on is narrower. If you do your job properly and stay neutral, you are normally entitled to have your own reasonable legal costs paid out of the estate. That protection depends on behaving as a personal representative should. It is not a blank cheque, and it does not cover the beneficiaries fighting the claim themselves.

Your solicitor can advise on funding arrangements from the outset.

The Probate Network can connect you with an SRA-regulated solicitor who specialises in Inheritance Act claims. You can request a free consultation to discuss your situation and understand your options before committing to anything.

FAQs

Can a personal representative be sued personally in an Inheritance Act claim?

Yes, in certain circumstances. If you distribute the estate after becoming aware of a claim and the claimant later succeeds, you may be personally liable for any shortfall. Courts can also make personal costs orders against personal representatives who act improperly or fail to engage with proceedings. Taking legal advice as soon as a claim is flagged protects your position.

What if I am both a personal representative and a beneficiary?

This is a common position, particularly where an executor is also a family member who inherits under the will. You must keep your two roles separate. As a personal representative, you are required to act impartially. As a beneficiary, you have a personal stake in the outcome. Your solicitor can help you manage that conflict and advise whether any decisions should be handled independently.

What happens to the estate while an Inheritance Act claim is ongoing?

You should not distribute assets until the claim is resolved. The estate remains under your administration, and you continue to manage and preserve it. If assets are perishable or time-sensitive (for example, a property requiring maintenance), your solicitor can advise on steps you can take without compromising the proceedings.

How long does an Inheritance Act claim take to resolve?

It varies considerably. Claims settled through negotiation or mediation can conclude in a matter of months. Contested proceedings that go to a final court hearing can take one to two years or longer. Acting promptly, seeking legal advice early, and engaging constructively with the other side all tend to shorten the process.

Related Reading

Time Limited for Inheritance Tax Claims

This article is for general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. Rules and procedures can change, and every estate is different. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a qualified solicitor. You can request a free consultation with an SRA-regulated contentious probate solicitor through The Probate Network.