A person may have a claim against their deceased partner’s estate under The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010.
In order to sustain a claim, there are certain proofs that need to be satisfied, namely:
- You must be able to prove that you are what is known as a qualified cohabitant. A qualified cohabitant is defined in (Section 172) of the 2010 Act, it defines co-habitants as one of two adults whether of the same or the opposite sex who live together as a couple in an intimate and committed relationship and who are neither related to each other, married to each other or civil partners of each other.
- Subsection 2 sets out various factors which will determine whether the survivor is entitled to bring a claim against the estate of the deceased. These factors include:
- Duration of the relationship.
- The basis on which the parties lived together.
- The financial relationship, and particularly the financial dependency of the survivor on the deceased partner.
- The nature and extent of any asset held.
- Whether the parties have children.
- Whether one of the parties’ cares for and supports the other.
- The extent in which the parties present themselves as a couple.
- In order to bring a claim against the estate, the qualified cohabitant must have been living with the deceased cohabitant for 5 or more years prior to the end of the relationship. (whether it ended during the deceased’s lifetime or at the date of their death)This 5 year period is reduced to two years if the couple had children together.
So, in summary it is possible for a survivor of a deceased partner to have a claim to the estate provided they can satisfy all the conditions set out in the 2010 Act.
For further information on this or any other Family Law matter please do not hesitate to contact one of our Family Law solicitors: Brendan Dillon, Emma Dillon, Alice Downey, or Simone Murray on 01 296 0666.
