Waiting For Ilott v Mitson At The Supreme Court

On 12 December 2016, the Supreme Court heard the appeal of the important case of Ilott v Mitson [2015] EWCA Civ 797.

The case is significant as it involved an adult child who was able to make an inheritance claim from her deceased mother’s estate, even though she was not financially dependent on her and was estranged from her mother. You can read more about the appeal of this decision here.

The case marked a watershed in inheritance claims for financial provision by adult children, which had previously been considered with a large deal of scepticism by the Courts. The decision of the Supreme Court is now awaited in this important case.

Who can make an inheritance claim?

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 certain categories of family and dependants may be able to apply for reasonable financial provision.  These are the deceased’s spouse, civil partner, former spouses or civil partners, cohabitees, dependants and children.

When deciding such claims, the Court needs to decide firstly whether or not reasonable financial provision was made for that person in the Will, and if not go on to decide what order to make to remedy that. In making these decisions the Court will consider the following factors:

1. The financial needs and resources of the applicant(s) at the date of the hearing and for the foreseeable future;
2. The financial needs and resources of the beneficiaries at the date of the hearing and for the foreseeable future;
3. Any obligations the deceased had towards any applicant or any beneficiary;
4. The size and nature of the estate;
5. Any physical or mental disability of an applicant or beneficiary;
6. Any other matter including the conduct of an applicant or beneficiary which the Court may consider relevant.

Ilott v Mitson case

The facts of this case are summarised by the Supreme Court as:

• Mrs Jackson died in 2004. In her Will she left the majority of her £486,000 estate to three charities (the appellants);
• The Will made no provision for Mrs Jackson’s only child, Mrs Ilott (the respondent). Mother and daughter had become estranged many years before and their attempts at reconciliation had failed.
• Mrs Ilott made an application under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for reasonable financial provision from her late mother’s estate.
• In 2007, DJ Million made an award in Mrs Ilott’s favour of £50,000.
• Mrs Ilott appealed against the amount of this award. In July 2015, the court of Appeal allowed Mrs Ilott’s appeal, setting aside DJ Million’s award and substituting its own award of (a) £143,000, to enable Mrs Ilott to purchase her housing association home, (b) the reasonable costs of the purchase, and (c) payments up to a maximum of £20,000 structured in a way that would allow Mrs Ilott to preserve her state benefits.
• The charities now appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is now to decide whether:

1. The Court of Appeal was wrong to set aside the award made at first instance on the respondent’s claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.
2. In deciding to re-exercise the court’s discretion to make an award under the 1975 Act, the Court of Appeal erred in taking account of the factual position as at the date of the appeal rather than the date of the original hearing.
3. The Court of Appeal erred in its approach to the ‘maintenance’ standard under the 1975 Act.
4. The Court of Appeal was wrong to structure an award under the 1975 Act in a way which allowed the respondent the preserve her entitlement to state benefits.
5. The Court of Appeal erred in its application of the balancing exercise required under the 1975 Act.

Of particular interest will be the discussion regarding the application of the balancing exercise required under the act and how the comments that the Supreme Court make on this issue will be able to be used in future cases across the country for and against applications for provision from the estate, many of which will be in limbo whilst the Supreme Court considers its decision.

Once the decision is available a further blog will follow with an update and our thoughts.

How can Nelsons help?

For more information regarding the subjects discussed in this article, please contact our expert Dispute Resolution team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.