Till Death Do Us Part? Inheritance Claims and the Short Marriage

Introduction

There is a real difference between a marriage which ends on death rather than divorce. A divorce involves a conscious decision by at least one spouse to end the marriage. In such cases the length of the marriage and the parties’ contributions are important factors. But where a marriage ends on death, a widow is entitled to say she entered into it on the basis of indefinite duration, and in the expectation that the parties would spend their lives together. Should a marriage prematurely terminated on death cause the length of the marriage to be a less important factor than it would be on divorce?

This issue came before the Court of Appeal on 25 October 2005 in the case of Fielden and Graham v. Cunliffe [2005] EWCA Civ 1508; [2006] FLR forthcoming. The case involved Mrs Cunliffe’s (“the Widow”) application under Section 1 (1)(a) of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 (“the 1975 Act”).

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This article first appeared in Family Law (May 2006)