An adult child who is 'struggling' in the sense of coping with financial demands but having nothing to spare and no reserves for the vicissitudes of advancing years is entitled to family provision, even where the estate is modest and consists principally of a single asset (the family home) in which another beneficiary resides. The court will balance competing claims by reference to fractions of the estate rather than fixed sums where the sale price is uncertain. Informal family discussions about the disposition of property, even if repeated over many years, do not create binding contracts or trusts where there is no intention to create legal relations and the terms are vague.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 141 later cases that cite this judgment.
1 of the 141 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.