Matthew Mills, instructed by Tony Cockayne and Jasmine Ivory of Michelmores, appeared for the executor in the high-value Inheritance Act claim.

The claimant is a 36-year-old personal trainer who previously starred in Made in Chelsea. He issued a claim against the estate of his mother’s ex-partner, which was worth £38 million, 4.5 years out of time. The judge refused to grant the claimant permission to issue his claim out of time. The judgment helpfully discusses a number of issues which might arise in other Inheritance Act claims, including:

• The assessment of an allegation that a claimant was not advised by his solicitors of the possibility of bringing an Inheritance Act claim (see [166]-[195])
• The prejudice which would be suffered by a defendant who inherits a large estate if the Inheritance Act claim is allowed to proceed out of time (see [201]-[214])
• The weight to be given to social media posts which appear to show the claimant enjoying a higher standard of living than their evidence suggests (see [241]-[243])
• The relevance of alleged promises made by the deceased to the claimant (see [252]-[260])
• The threshold for refusing an Inheritance Act claim on the merits at a preliminary issue hearing (see [285]

You can access the High Court’s judgment here.