IHTM35232 - the Inheritance (Provision for
Family and Dependants Act) 1975: persons who may apply
The persons who may apply for an order under the I(PFD)A 1975
are the deceased's
- surviving spouse or civil partner (or
former spouse who has not remarried or former civil partner who has
not formed a new civil partnership) (
IHTM11032)
- child or person treated by the deceased as
a child of his family
- cohabitee, a category introduced for
deaths on or after 1 January 1996 by s.2 Law Reform (Succession)
Act 1995. In Northern Ireland, this category was introduced for
deaths on or after 20 February 1997 under article 4 of the
Succession (Northern Ireland) Order 1996. A person will be in this
category of claimant if, during the whole of the two year period
preceding the deceased’s death, they lived in the same
household as the deceased and as the husband or wife of the
deceased, or
- any other person who was being wholly or
partly maintained by the deceased immediately before their
death.
The application for the order must normally be made within six
months of the date of grant of representation, but the court may
allow a later application.
