Family Provision Act 1969

Subject to this section, each of the following persons is entitled to make application to the Supreme Court for provision out of the estate of a deceased person:

a partner of the deceased person;

a person (other than a partner of the deceased person) who was in a domestic relationship with the deceased person for 2 or more years continuously at any time;

a child of the deceased person;

a stepchild of the deceased person;

a grandchild of the deceased person;

a parent of the deceased person.

A stepchild of a deceased person is not entitled to make an application to the Supreme Court for provision out of the estate of the deceased person unless the stepchild was maintained by the deceased person immediately before his or her death.

A grandchild of a deceased person is not entitled to make an application to the Supreme Court for provision out of the estate of the deceased person unless—

the parent of the grandchild who was a child of the deceased person died before the deceased person died; or

a parent of the grandchild was alive on the day the deceased person died but the grandchild, immediately before the deceased person died—

was not maintained by a parent; and

was maintained by the deceased person.

A parent of a deceased person is not entitled to make an application to the Supreme Court for provision out of the estate of the deceased person unless—

the parent was maintained by the deceased person immediately before his or her death; or

the deceased person was not survived by any partner or any of the children of the deceased person.

For this section, a person shall not be regarded as having been maintained by the deceased person immediately before his or her death unless—

there was in force at that time an order of a court requiring the deceased person to pay maintenance to or for the benefit of the other person; or

the deceased person was, at that time, whether under a written agreement or otherwise, maintaining that other person or making a contribution to the maintenance of that other person, being a contribution that, in all of the circumstances, can be regarded as other than a nominal contribution; or

a court would, if the deceased person were still living, have power to make an order requiring the deceased person to pay maintenance to or for the benefit of the other person.

For this section, a child of the deceased person born alive after the death of that person shall be regarded as having been born before the death of the deceased person.

In this section:

was the domestic partner of the person at any time; and

either—

was the person’s spouse, civil union partner or civil partner at any time; or

was the person’s domestic partner continuously for 2 or more years at any time; or

is the parent of a child of the person.

For the meaning of domestic partner, see Legislation Act, s 169.