Succession Act 1965 section 116

Provision in satisfaction of legal right

Section 116 deals with how permanent provision made by a testator for their spouse during the testator's lifetime, before the commencement of the Act, is offset against the surviving spouse's legal right share of the estate.

• Where a testator made permanent provision for their spouse during their lifetime (excluding periodic maintenance payments), that provision is treated as being given towards satisfaction of the spouse's legal right share.
• The value of the provision is calculated as at the date on which it was originally made, not at the date of death.
• If the value of the provision equals or exceeds the legal right share, the surviving spouse has no entitlement to claim any legal right share from the estate.
• If the value of the provision is less than the legal right share, the spouse may claim only enough from the estate to make up the difference between the provision already received and the full legal right share.