Where an adult child has worked a family farm for decades for minimal wages on the understanding of future inheritance, and the testator disinherits the child following a dispute provoked by the testator's unreasonable conduct, the provision made is likely to be found inadequate. The court may order the devise of specific property rather than a monetary sum where the claim relates to family land holdings. Continuing family negotiations provide an acceptable explanation for delay in bringing family provision applications, particularly where the estate has not been fully distributed. A widow's claim for further provision may fail where the competing claims of adult sons who built up the estate through decades of labour are strong, even where the widow made substantial contributions.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 8 later cases that cite this judgment.