Inheritance Act Claims by Children: A Guide

Inheritance Act claims by children: minor and adult children

Inheritance Act claims by children are more common than many people realise. When someone dies and leaves a child without adequate financial provision, the law provides a route to challenge the estate. This guide covers that process in two distinct sections: first, claims brought on behalf of minor children; second, claims brought by adult children of the deceased.

The rules come from the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. This law allows certain people, including children, to apply to the court if a will or the rules of intestacy (the legal rules that apply when there is no will) have left them without reasonable financial provision.

Part one: Inheritance Act claims by minor children

Who counts as a minor child?

A minor child is anyone under the age of 18. For the purposes of an Inheritance Act claim, a child of the deceased includes biological children and adopted children. A baby who was conceived before the death but born afterwards also counts. Stepchildren may qualify too, under a separate category for anyone the deceased treated as a child of their family.

Adoption changes things in a way that catches people out. Once a child is legally adopted, the law treats them as the child of their adoptive parents, with exactly the same inheritance rights as if they had been born to them. At the same time, the legal link to their birth parents is cut. So an adopted person normally cannot claim against a birth parent’s estate as their child, although a birth parent is still free to leave them something in a will if they choose.

One further point applies to every claim, whatever the child’s age. A claim can only be brought if the person who died was domiciled in England and Wales.

Who makes the claim on a minor child’s behalf?

A minor child will usually need someone to conduct a legal claim on their behalf. That person is called a litigation friend, and in most cases this will be the surviving parent or guardian.

The litigation friend has a legal duty to act in the child’s best interests throughout the claim. They instruct the solicitor and make decisions about the case, but the claim belongs to the child. If the litigation friend has their own interests in the estate, the court may appoint a separate person to avoid any conflict.

There is one important difference between a claim for a child and a claim for an adult. If the two sides agree a settlement, it is not final until a judge has approved it. The court checks that the deal is genuinely in the child’s interests, and will usually require a legal opinion supporting the settlement before signing it off. This is a protection for the child, not a formality, and it means a claim on behalf of a minor almost always involves at least one court hearing even when nobody is arguing.

What does the court consider in a minor’s claim?

The court looks at what reasonable financial provision for the child means. For a minor, that typically means provision for maintenance, covering day-to-day living costs, education, housing and similar needs.

The court weighs up a range of factors, including:

The child’s current and future financial needs
The financial resources and needs of any other applicants or beneficiaries
The size and nature of the estate
Any obligations and responsibilities the deceased had towards the child, and towards anyone else who stands to inherit
The child’s age and any disability or special needs

The court does not simply divide the estate equally. It assesses what is reasonable in the specific circumstances of that child.

How does a minor bring a claim?

A claim can be started in the County Court or the High Court. There is no cut-off based on how much the estate is worth, so which court you use comes down to how big and how complicated the case is. Your solicitor will advise. The claim must be brought within six months of the date the grant of probate or letters of administration is issued (the legal authority to administer an estate). Since October 2014 a claim can also be started before the grant comes through. The court can give permission for a late claim, but this is not guaranteed.

You are expected to try to settle before going to court, and mediation is common in inheritance claims. Since October 2024 a judge can order both sides to try mediation, and can penalise a side that refuses without a good reason when deciding who pays the legal bills. Many claims are resolved this way without a full court hearing.

What orders can the court make for a minor?

If the claim succeeds, the court can order a lump sum, regular payments, a transfer of property, or property to be held on trust for the child’s benefit. Money awarded to a child is not simply handed over. The court controls what happens to it, usually by having it paid into court or held on trust until the child turns 18.

If a child is left without the money they were relying on, the court can also order a payment from the estate early, rather than making them wait for the whole case to finish.

FAQs: minor children and Inheritance Act claims

Can a child claim against an estate even if there is a valid will?

Yes. The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 applies whether or not the deceased left a will. A valid will does not prevent a child from making a claim if it fails to make reasonable financial provision for them.

Can a child claim if their parent died without a will?

Yes. The intestacy rules do provide for children, but not always enough to meet their needs. Where someone dies without a will leaving a husband, wife or civil partner and children, the surviving partner takes the personal belongings, the first £322,000 and half of whatever is left. The children share the other half between them. So on a modest estate the children may end up with nothing at all. An Inheritance Act claim is still available if the intestacy rules leave a child without reasonable provision.

What happens if the estate has already been distributed before a claim is made?

It becomes much harder, though not always impossible. Personal representatives who distribute the estate after the six-month period are protected from personal liability if no application is pending and they have no notice of one, but this does not prevent recovery from people who received estate assets. The practical lesson is to act quickly and tell the executors in writing as soon as you think you may have a claim.

Part two: Inheritance Act claims by adult children

Can adult children make Inheritance Act claims?

Yes. Adult children can make an Inheritance Act claim. Although such claims may be harder in practice, the statutory standard for children is the same regardless of age.

For everyone except a surviving husband, wife or civil partner, the test is whether it is reasonable for the applicant to receive financial provision for their reasonable maintenance. That applies to children whatever their age. So the question for an adult child is not whether they deserve a share of the estate, or whether the will feels fair. It is whether their parent should reasonably have left them something towards their day-to-day upkeep.

What does the court look for in an adult child’s claim?

Adult child claims succeed or fail on their particular facts. The court considers the same broad factors as it does for minors, but it also weighs up why the adult child needs financial support and what attitude the deceased took towards their responsibility for that child.

In practice, claims are stronger where:

The adult child has a disability or health condition that limits their ability to earn
The adult child was financially dependent on the deceased at the time of death
The adult child gave up work or opportunities to care for the deceased
The adult child is in genuine financial need

Courts have been clear that adult children are not automatically entitled to a share of an estate simply because they expected one. Any moral obligation the deceased owed to the adult child may be relevant, but it is not a legal requirement; financial need is generally an important consideration.

The leading case is Ilott v The Blue Cross [2017] UKSC 17, where a daughter who had been estranged from her mother for 26 years and was living on benefits was awarded £50,000 from an estate of around £486,000 that had been left to charity. It shows both sides of the picture: she won something because she was in real financial need, but the award reflected what she needed to live on rather than a share of the estate, and the Supreme Court gave real weight to what her mother had wanted.

The effect of estrangement on Inheritance Act claims

Estrangement between a parent and adult child does not automatically end the right to claim. However, the court will take the circumstances of that estrangement into account. If the deceased deliberately excluded an adult child because of a longstanding and reasonable falling-out, the court may reflect that in its decision.

Conversely, if the estrangement resulted from the deceased’s own behaviour, or if the child was excluded without justification, the claim may receive more sympathy.

What about adult stepchildren?

A stepchild the deceased treated as one of their own children can also bring a claim as an adult. Since October 2014 this category has been wider than it used to be. It no longer matters whether the deceased was ever married to the child’s parent, so it covers a long-term partner’s child, and it can even apply where the family was just the deceased and the child. What counts is whether the deceased took on the role of a parent. The court looks at the nature and length of that relationship, and at how the deceased treated them financially.

How long does an adult child have to claim?

The same six-month deadline applies, running from the date the grant of probate or letters of administration is issued. Adult children should act promptly. Late applications require the court’s permission, and there is no guarantee it will be granted.

Practical steps for adult children considering a claim

If you are an adult child thinking about an Inheritance Act claim, the first step is to get legal advice from a solicitor who specialises in contentious probate (disputes about wills and estates). They can assess whether the claim has merit before any formal steps are taken.

In many cases, writing to the estate’s executors or administrators first to flag the potential claim is worthwhile. This can open a dialogue and avoid the cost and time of court proceedings.

FAQs: adult children and Inheritance Act claims

Do Inheritance Act claims by adult children usually succeed?

Success depends entirely on the facts of the case. Claims where the adult child is in genuine financial need, was dependent on the deceased, or can demonstrate a clear moral obligation on the parent’s part tend to have better prospects. Adult children who simply feel they were treated unfairly, without financial need to support the claim, face a much harder task.

My parent left everything to someone else. Is that enough on its own?

No. Being left out of a will, or left less than you hoped for, is not a ground for a claim by itself. You have to show that you need financial support and that your parent should reasonably have provided some of it. Someone comfortably off who is simply upset by the will is unlikely to get anywhere. Someone who cannot meet their basic living costs has a real case to put.