A farmer’s will has been overturned and his 79-year-old cohabiting partner of 42 years was awarded a share of the £1.5m estate in a recent ruling.

Joan Thompson had moved in with farmer Wynford Hodge in the 1970s with her young son. Mr Hodge’s previous wills had all previously included Ms Thompson in its arrangements, but in its final incarnation it disinherited her on the grounds that he had lost contact with her children and that she had sufficient means to care for herself. Mr Hodge had left a Letter of Wishes which stated that Joan was ‘financially comfortable’.

When it transpired that Ms Thompson had only savings of £2,500 to her name and her care was provided by the local authority, Ms Thompson brought a claim for reasonable financial provision from Mr Hodge’s estate.

The judge varied the terms of the will and stated that Mr Hodge had made a ‘mistake’ in his Letter of Wishes, which had led to Ms Thompson not inheriting anything from Mr Hodge. She was awarded a cottage on the estate worth £225,000 plus a lump sum of £160,000 as life maintenance. The cottage had originally been purchased for her to live in.

Will dispute experts at Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth say the judgment is an interesting departure from the decisions given by the Supreme Court in Ilott v Mitson and the Court of Appeal in Williams v Martin which both highlighted that the court would not transfer capital assets if needs can be met by a life interest in property.

However, the judge in the Thompson v Ragget case made his award based on the considerable length of the cohabitation, the fact that Ms Thompson had been dependent on him all her life and that she was clearly in financial need. The opponents in this case were not family members but friends of the deceased who he had met towards the end of his life.

Specialist solicitors also warn that cohabiting couples face obstacles when it comes to inheriting estates. It’s vital to have a will in place as if the deceased dies intestate, their surviving partner doesn’t have the automatic right to inherit.

Julia Burns, an associate in the Will, Trust and Estate Disputes team at Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth, said: “Ms Thompson is an elderly lady who requires care, and who was determined to return back to her home on the estate. 

“It is significant that the other beneficiaries of the estate still inherited a sizeable amount from the £1.5 million estate and this is always an important factor for a judge when deciding the amount of an award.

“The decision highlights the point that in these types of claims, different judges will reach different decisions on the same set of facts depending on how creative they are.

“The decision also reinforces the issues for cohabitees in that any provision is for their maintenance only. Until legislation make provisions for cohabiting couples we would advise that anyone cohabiting makes sure they have a will in place – the more variation in decisions made by the courts, the less certain an outcome will be in a will dispute.”