Case Study

In November 2025, a Judge ruled that a daughter, previously estranged from her millionaire father, should receive £123,000 from her late father’s estate.

Although they had not had contact for 20 years, Emma reconciled with her dad in 2019, and they went on to have a good relationship until his sudden death in 2022.

Despite their reconciliation, Emma’s dad had not updated his Will since 2014 when he was still estranged from Emma. In that Will, he had specifically excluded Emma from the Will and left everything to his wife (Emma’s stepmother).

When her father died, having reconnected, Emma claimed for “reasonable financial provision” from his large estate.

Having considered Emma’s difficult family situation, living with 2 disabled children in a housing association property and receiving Universal Credit, the Judge ruled she was in need of the money. Emma was awarded a payout of just over £123,000. Emma’s stepmother was still very well provided for with the remainder of his Estate.

How does this affect me?

We see many clients who, for whatever reason, wish to exclude people from their Will. Often it is through estrangement from children. In these cases, it is so important to regularly review your Will.

With family, circumstances change all the time, and you may well reconcile with your children in the future. In these instances, you may well wish your previously estranged offspring to receive an inheritance. However, if you do not change your Will, your estate will pass however you wished when you wrote your previous Will.

To avoid upset, contention and lengthy court battles, you should review your wishes every couple of years, or at least whenever circumstances change.

If you think you may need to review your Will, telephone us today to book a free Will review with Jane or Hazel.