A woman who had lived with a man for many years separated years ago then she remarried.

When they separated she promised to leave the man half of the house when she died. She did

not do that and he now finds that the house goes to her children, with nothing to him or to the

new husband.

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Comment by Specialist Wills & Estate Lawyer Terry Johansson:

In this case the man will need to fit within a category of claimant in the State in which the

claim is to be brought. Some States will permit an ex-partner to bring a claim and other

States won’t. If he does qualify, then he should be in a good position to claim that she should

have provided for him in line with the agreement. However if he is already wealthy he will

have no financial need, and it still may be difficult for him to prove the obligation. He has an

added problem in so far as the new husband who has also been left nothing has a much

stronger claim to a share of the property, because he was in a relationship with his wife, when

she died, and has received nothing. His claim is stronger than that of any of her children.

The ex-partner would be wise to obtain legal advice as to whether he has any equity in the

property, by virtue of the arrangement, especially if he helped buy it, and if so, this will be

probably a stronger claim than a claim brought for further provision by contesting the Will.

00683.6/CQ/REI/20121590/AU/C/XXX/-/MHD/CF/?