IHTM11025 - General procedure: claims against the deceased’s estate (England and Wales)

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 certain persons may make a claim against a deceased’s estate. They are, very broadly, the members of the deceased’s family, including a spouse or civil partner (IHTM11032), former spouse or civil partner who has not remarried, a child or any person treated as a child of the family and any person who was being wholly or partly maintained by the deceased before the death.

If the claim against the estate results in an Order within S146, the IHTA84 including IHTA84/S18, applies as if the deceased’s estate had devolved on the death subject to the provisions of the Order. This subject is covered in more detail in the section on alteration of dispositions (IHTM35231)

If the claim against the estate is settled (IHTM11026) by a beneficiary rather than out of the assets of the estate then this may also affect the amount of exemption due.