Step-Children and your Will

The West Australian State Parliament has recently passed the Inheritance (Family and Dependants Provision) Amendment Bill 2011. The Bill was assented to on October 25 2011 and awaits proclamation before inevitably coming into full operation. 

The major change within the bill is the creation of a new class of persons able to claim under the Inheritance (Family and Dependants Provision) Act ("the Act"). This is an Act under which the categories of persons currently able to claim against the estate of a deceased person under the Act in Western Australia are limited to:

• spouses and de facto partners of the deceased;
• children of the deceased ;
• parents of the deceased;
• grandchildren of the deceased; and