Alison Parry of JMW’s Commercial Litigation team achieved an early resolution, at mediation, for a client whose father had left her out of his Will. Our client stood to inherit approximately £10,000 but with our advice and assistance she was able to secure the payment of £105,000.

Upon her late father’s death, our client found herself left out of her father’s Will which was heavily in favour of her sister who was to receive a sizeable inheritance, including a property. Sometimes the extent of the discrepancy between various gifts to children is not fully appreciated at the Will making stage, and proper consideration ought to be given to the potential increase in property values when making gifts of property.

Our client had a number of heavily debilitating illnesses which affected her quality of life and she was in special need of funds to improve her care and treatment. With our assistance, she applied for reasonable financial provision from her late father’s estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 – to seek funds to meet her health and care needs.

Our client was keen to avoid an extensive legal claim, which would have been difficult to cope with and much of the funds would have been put towards legal fees, so with our assistance a mediation was arranged and settlement achieved at a relatively early stage. The settlement resulted in our client receiving a sizable division of the estate’s assets, significantly more than envisaged under the Will; namely the benefit of a lump sum payment to assist with her care needs and to receive additional equipment which will improve her quality of life and enable her to better cope with the conditions she has.