Inheritance Act Claims for Cohabitants: What You Need to Know

Inheritance Act claims for cohabitants: an overview

Inheritance Act claims for cohabitants are one of the more complex areas of probate law in England and Wales. If you lived with a partner who died without leaving you anything in their will, or without making a will at all, you may have legal grounds to make a claim against their estate. This guide explains who can claim, what the process involves, and why getting a solicitor is strongly advisable.

Think you have a claim? Act quick, Inheritance Tax claims can only be made within six months of probate being granted. Speak to a specialist Inheritance Act solicitor as soon as possible.

What is an Inheritance Act claim?

The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (usually called “the 1975 Act”) allows certain people to apply to a court if they believe a deceased person’s estate fails to make reasonable financial provision for them.

Reasonable financial provision means enough money or assets to meet your maintenance needs. For most claimants, including cohabitants, the test is limited to maintenance. This is a lower standard than the provision a spouse or civil partner can claim.

One threshold applies to every claim. It can only be brought if the person who died was domiciled in England and Wales.

Who counts as a cohabitant under the Act?

You qualify as a cohabitant under the 1975 Act if you lived with the deceased as their partner in the same household for at least two years immediately before their death. The statutory wording is “as if that person and the deceased were a married couple or civil partners”. The two years must be continuous and must end at the point of death.

This is a strict threshold. A relationship of longer standing does not remove the two-year requirement to live together, although a temporary absence does not necessarily mean that you stopped living in the same household.

If you do not meet the two-year test, that is not necessarily the end of it. There is a second route. Anyone who, immediately before the death, was being maintained wholly or partly by the deceased can bring a claim as a dependant. This does not depend on living together: the deceased must have been making a substantial contribution in money or money’s worth towards that person’s reasonable needs.

This route used to be much harder than it is now. Courts once weighed what your partner gave you against what you gave them, so a partner who cooked, cleaned and cared could be told they had contributed more than they received and therefore were not being maintained. That test was scrapped in October 2014. What you did for your partner is no longer set against what they did for you, provided it was a normal domestic relationship rather than a commercial arrangement.

What the court considers

If you meet the two-year requirement, the court does not automatically grant a claim. It weighs a range of factors before deciding whether the estate should provide for you, and if so, how much.

Those factors include:

• The financial resources and needs of you and any other claimants now and in the foreseeable future
• The obligations and responsibilities the deceased had towards you and others
• The size and nature of the estate
• Any physical or mental disability of you or any beneficiary
• Any other matter the court considers relevant, including the conduct of all parties

The court also looks at the deceased’s reasons for not making provision, if those are known.

Because you were living together, the court also has to consider three further things: your age, how long you lived together, and the contribution you made to the family’s welfare, including looking after the home and caring for the family. That last point matters. Years of unpaid work at home count, even though it never showed up in a bank account.

What “reasonable financial provision” means in practice

For cohabitants, the court limits its assessment to maintenance. This means the money or assets needed to cover your reasonable living costs, housing needs, and general financial welfare. It does not extend to the broader sharing of wealth that a spouse might claim.

Awards can take the form of a lump sum, regular payments, a transfer of property, or a combination. Each case turns on its own facts.

The process for making a claim

Inheritance Act claims follow a clear sequence. Here is how each stage works.

Step one: Check the time limit. You must start your claim at court within six months of the date the grant of representation is issued (the legal authority to deal with the estate, usually the grant of probate or letters of administration). Since October 2014 you can also start a claim before the grant comes through, which helps if the executors are slow. Courts can extend this deadline, but you have to ask permission and you have to explain the delay. Do not rely on it. Act promptly.

Step two: Gather evidence. You will need to show the nature of your relationship, your financial position, the size of the estate, and why reasonable provision has not been made. Evidence of cohabitation, such as joint tenancy agreements, shared utility accounts, and correspondence, all helps.

Step three: Consider alternative resolution. Many claims settle through negotiation or mediation before reaching a full court hearing. This saves time, cost, and uncertainty. However, you need to know your legal position clearly before entering any negotiation.

Step four: Issue the claim. If you cannot settle, you start proceedings. These claims can be brought in the County Court or the High Court, and there is no cut-off based on how much the estate is worth. Which court you use depends on how big and how complicated the case is.

Step five: Attend the hearing. A judge hears evidence from both sides and makes an order. This stage is relatively rare because most claims settle earlier.

Why you should instruct a solicitor

A solicitor who specialises in contentious probate is not simply recommended here. For most cohabitants, instructing one is essential.

The legal tests are precise. The two-year cohabitation rule, the maintenance standard, and the range of factors the court weighs all require careful analysis of your specific circumstances. A solicitor will assess the strength of your claim honestly before you commit time and money to it.

The time limit is unforgiving. Six months from the grant of probate passes quickly, particularly when you are also dealing with the practical aftermath of a bereavement. A solicitor tracks these deadlines for you.

Negotiation requires legal knowledge. If the estate’s representatives or other beneficiaries push back, you need someone who understands what a court would realistically award. That knowledge gives you a grounded basis for any negotiation.

The cost of getting it wrong is high. A failed claim, or one handled poorly, can result in a costs order against you. Funding matters too. If you take on a no win, no fee arrangement, the Supreme Court decided in 2024 that the success fee cannot be recovered from the estate, so it comes out of whatever you are awarded. A solicitor helps you understand both risks from the outset.

You can book a free consultation with an SRA-regulated solicitor through The Probate Network to discuss whether you have grounds for a claim.

Possible changes to the law

The 1975 Act has changed less than many people expect, but it has changed. Cohabiting partners were not covered by it at all when it was first passed. The category you now claim under was only added in 1995 and took effect in 1996. Reform has been discussed with increasing seriousness ever since.

The Law Commission, the independent body that reviews the law in England and Wales, looked at cohabiting couples twice. In 2007 it recommended a scheme letting cohabitants claim from each other when they separate. That report did not deal with death, and the government did not act on it. In 2011 the Commission looked specifically at what happens when a cohabitant dies. It recommended that long-term cohabiting partners should inherit automatically under the intestacy rules, without having to go to court at all, and drafted a bill to do it. Parliament passed some of the Commission’s other recommendations in 2014 but left that bill on the shelf.

What the current debate looks like

In 2024, the topic returned to public and parliamentary debate. The number of cohabiting couples in the UK has grown significantly over recent decades. Many people still assume, incorrectly, that a “common law marriage” gives them legal rights equivalent to marriage. It does not.

Campaigners and legal professionals have argued that the 1975 Act, as it applies to cohabitants, does not reflect the realities of modern family life. The two-year rule can produce harsh outcomes. A couple who lived together for twenty years but separated briefly, or who maintained separate addresses for practical reasons, may find themselves outside the legal definition of cohabitant.

There is also pressure to raise the standard of provision available to cohabitants. Currently limited to maintenance, some argue it should match the broader standard available to spouses and civil partners, particularly for long-term partners who structured their lives and finances together.

The position has moved since then. Labour’s 2024 manifesto promised to strengthen the rights of women in cohabiting couples, and in June 2026 the Ministry of Justice opened a consultation called ‘A fairer end to relationships’. It ran until 14 August 2026 and asked, among other things, whether cohabiting partners who meet a set definition should inherit automatically when their partner dies without a will, and whether the qualifying period should be scrapped altogether for couples who had children together.

Nothing has changed yet. The government’s response is awaited, and any new law would take time after that. If you are a cohabitant thinking about a claim, the rules described in this article are the ones that apply to you today. A solicitor can confirm the current position and flag anything that has moved on.

Speak to a professional about your circumstances

Inheritance Act claims for cohabitants sit at the intersection of family law, probate law, and court procedure. General guidance, including this article, can explain how the framework works. It cannot tell you whether you have a claim worth pursuing or what it is likely to be worth.

For advice on your own situation, speak to a qualified solicitor who specialises in contentious probate. You can book a free consultation through The Probate Network.

FAQs

Can I make an Inheritance Act claim if my partner died without a will?

Yes. A claim under the 1975 Act applies whether or not the deceased left a will. If there is no will, the estate passes under the rules of intestacy, which give cohabitants nothing. An Inheritance Act claim is often the only legal route for a cohabitant in that situation.

What happens if I missed the six-month deadline for an Inheritance Act claim?

The court has the power to grant permission to claim after the six-month period, but it does so in limited circumstances. You will need to show good reason for the delay. Courts weigh factors such as whether negotiations were ongoing and whether beneficiaries would be prejudiced. Speak to a solicitor as soon as possible if you think you may have missed the deadline.

Does it matter whose name the property was in?

Property ownership is relevant but not the whole picture. The court considers the full financial position of both you and the estate, including property in the deceased’s sole name, jointly held assets, and any other resources. A property in the deceased’s sole name may form part of the estate available for an award, depending on how it was held and whether it passes directly to a beneficiary outside of probate. There is also a useful power where your partner was beneficially entitled to a joint tenancy of property with someone else, such as a sibling or a former partner. The deceased’s interest would normally pass to the surviving joint tenant on death, outside the estate, but the court can treat the deceased’s severable share as part of the estate for the purposes of a claim.

What is the difference between an Inheritance Act claim and a claim based on beneficial interest in property?

These are two separate legal routes. A beneficial interest claim (sometimes called a constructive trust or proprietary estoppel claim) argues that you already have a legal or equitable share in a specific property, regardless of whose name it is registered in. An Inheritance Act claim asks the court to award you provision from the estate. Some cohabitants pursue both simultaneously. A solicitor can advise which route, or combination of routes, applies to your situation.

Read Next

How to Make an Inheritance Act Claim

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