Claims on an Estate

[Monty14]

My husband died five years ago and I obtained probate for the estate. My husband's daughter from a previous relationship is now claiming against the estate. She was not maintained financially for the past fifteen years previous to his death. Does she have any rights to a claim?

[JRB]

Did your husband leave a will? If he did and this excluded his daughter she would have to show financial dependence on him to have a valid claim.
If he died intestate (with no will) then much depends on the size of estate he left. Below a certain threshold you would be the sole benificiary. Above that level any of his children would have a right to part of his estate
( http://www.uk-wills.net/intestacy-laws-england -and-wales/)
Challenging a will should take place within a certain time from the granting of probate (cannot remember whether it is 6 months or a year). From your enquiry it sounds as though that time has expired.

[Barmaid]

JRB is right, there is a time limit of 6 months from the date of probate. After that she will need to seek leave to issue proceedings out of time (assuming her claim is under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 and from what you have said, it sounds like it - if you want to clarify this, I'll have another look) and will need a good reason for doing so. If she is an adult and able to work, the chances of her being successful are reasonably low, but there are a lot of factors that would need to be considered. However, there are a lot of claims that can be made against estates and the time limits depend on the type of claim it is. You really should seek legal advice asap.

[Monty14]

Thank you for your replies. The circumstances to my case are rather complicated. I have taken legal advice over the past five years and am beginning to lose faith in my solicitor. My husband didn't leave a will, but the cruxt of the matter is that in addition to my husbnds estate i have also been awarded compensation in court for the RTA that he was involved in. Can anyone tell me if this compenstion sum would have to be included in the estate or can they be kept seperate.