Who can claim for maintenance against an estate
Any party that deceased had a legal duty to financially support prior to his/her death can make a claim.
There are two main types of claims:
Where no maintenance was paid prior to the deceased's death.
Surviving Spouses and Minors in the care of the deceased prior to his/her death can make such a claim. In these cases the deceased was not liable to pay and also not paying maintenance prior to his/her death. Therefore no maintenance amount is predetermined from which to calculate a claim.
Where maintenance was paid prior to the deceased's death.
When the deceased was paying maintenance or was liable to pay maintenance to another party a claim can be made against the deceased's estate. This typically occurs when the deceased was paying (or were liable to pay) maintenance towards a divorced spouse or children. In this case a maintenance amount is available to base the calculation of the claim on.
We have forms available to give guidance as to what information is required to calculate a claim against an estate.