Where a parent of great wealth deliberately abandons a child and provides no support, adequate provision may require more than basic needs — the inattention may create a greater entitlement than in the case of a child properly attended to. Following the Children (Equality of Status) Act 1976, illegitimate children are eligible persons without distinction from legitimate children, and the former policy of not recognising rights of illegitimate children (as in Re Wade) should no longer be followed. Where applicants have reasonably expended testamentary provision on legal costs pursuing difficult claims against a deliberately structured estate, this does not disentitle them from further provision. The position of a widow who has lived separately from the deceased for a very long period is analogous to that of a divorced wife, but the deceased's failure to provide for the children and the widow's sole responsibility for their upbringing remain the most important considerations.
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