Cowan v Foreman February 2019

Family Division of the High Court refused an application by the widow of Michael Cowan to bring a claim under the 1975 Act.

The Will made provision for her by way of trusts; but she was unhappy with that, and sought to bring a claim for outright provision to be made for her instead.

Her application was long past the time for making such a claim, but she might have been permitted to do so if the court felt that she had a reasonable prospect of succeeding in it.

But in this instance, the court did not think that she did have a reasonable prospect of success.

In the first place, the view that was taken was that there were 'no grounds' for her argument that the Trustees of the trusts that had been put in place would not make sufficient provision for her under the terms of the trust.

Secondly, it was not felt that there was no basis in law for an argument that a widow was entitled to outright testamentary provision in her husband's Will. That would introduce a "forced spousal heirship" entitlement unknown to law.

One particularly relevant quote from the case was that "It must be possible for a testator to provide for his widow by a generous trust arrangement such as this, without the fear that it will be interfered with at huge expense in proceedings under the 1975 Act."