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Chris Bryden and Josh Stamp-Simon assess the potential inheritance rights of those in throuples, poly quads and other polyamorous relationships
- Surveys caselaw relevant to relationships lived outwith the heterodoxy.
- Considers potential for an Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 claim by a person or persons within a polyamorous relationship.
Could a person in a polyamorous relationship (ie a relationship involving three or more persons) be entitled to bring a claim against the estate of one of their deceased partners on the basis of ss 1(1)(ba) and 1(1A) of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (the 1975 Act)? Subsection 1(1A) provides for eligibility to bring a claim where: ‘The deceased died on or after 1st January 1996 and, during the whole of the period of two years ending immediately before the date when the deceased died, the person was living—
(a) in the same household as the deceased, and
(b) as if that person and the deceased were a married couple or civil partners’.
While persons in polyamorous relationships may potentially
