Being left out of a will — or left with far less than you needed — can feel like a final injustice at an already painful time. Victorian law may give you a right to ask for more. Here is who can claim, what the court actually weighs, the strict deadline that ends claims, and what it all looks like from the executor's side of the table.
Two different ways to "contest" a will
People use one phrase for two distinct challenges. A validity challenge says the will itself should not stand: the will-maker lacked testamentary capacity, was unduly influenced, did not know and approve the contents, or the document was forged or improperly signed. If it succeeds, an earlier will (or intestacy) governs instead. A family provision claim accepts the will is valid but says it fails to make adequate provision for someone the deceased had a responsibility to provide for. Most "contesting" in Victoria is the second kind, under Part IV of the Administration and Probate Act 1958.
Who can bring a Part IV claim
Victoria confines claims to defined categories of "eligible person", including:
- a spouse or domestic partner at the date of death;
- children — including adult children, stepchildren in defined circumstances, and those who believed the deceased was their parent;
- a former spouse or partner who could have brought family law proceedings but had not finalised them;
- certain dependants, registered caring partners, grandchildren dependent on the deceased, and household members.
For several categories, the claimant must also show they were wholly or partly dependent on the deceased. Adult children face an additional statutory focus on their need and capacity to provide for themselves. Eligibility is a genuine threshold — friends, siblings and carers outside the categories cannot claim however deserving, which is itself a reason careful wills consider who can.
What the court weighs
The court asks whether the deceased had a moral duty to provide for the claimant, and whether the will (or intestacy) failed to make adequate provision for their proper maintenance and support — judged at the time of the hearing. The factors are practical: the size of the estate; the claimant's financial resources, health and earning capacity; the nature and length of the relationship; contributions the claimant made to the estate or the deceased's welfare; provision made during life; any conduct or estrangement; competing claims of beneficiaries; and the deceased's reasons, where they can be shown. A written statement of reasons left with the will is not decisive, but a considered one carries real weight.
The six-month deadline
A Part IV claim must generally be commenced within six months of the grant of probate or letters of administration. The court can extend time, but only if the estate has not been fully distributed and the justice of the case demands it — extensions are the exception, not a plan. Because executors are effectively protected if they distribute after the window closes, delay can literally empty the estate you are claiming against. If you suspect you have a claim, the sensible first step this week is a caveat-level question: has probate been granted, and when?
How these claims actually resolve
The overwhelming majority settle. Victorian procedure pushes Part IV claims to mediation early, and most resolve there — commonly within six to twelve months of filing, against two years or more for the rare matter that runs to trial. Settlements are struck as deeds or consent orders and can restructure gifts, create life interests, or simply reallocate percentages. Costs follow reality: a successful claimant's reasonable costs are often paid from the estate, but an unsuccessful or overreaching claimant can be ordered to pay costs personally. The era of "the estate always pays, so have a free swing" is gone.
Defending an estate
Executors served with a claim take on a defined role: remain even-handed, protect the estate, gather the evidence of the deceased's reasons and the beneficiaries' circumstances, and negotiate sensibly where the claim has substance. Distributing early on notice of a claim exposes the executor personally; so does running an unwinnable defence out of loyalty. We act for executors as often as claimants — the judgment calls are mirror images. Our executor's guide covers the wider role.
What a claim is really like
Clients ask less about doctrine than about the experience. Expect early exchange of financial and relationship evidence in affidavit form; a compulsory mediation within months, where most matters end; and, throughout, decisions that are as much commercial as legal — the strength of the claim against the certainty of settlement, the estate's size against the cost of fighting over it. Emotion runs high on both sides of these files, and part of our role is converting grievance into strategy. The claimants who do best arrive early, document their circumstances honestly, and let the merits — not the anger — set the pace.
Reducing the risk in your own will
No drafting removes Part IV — you cannot contract your family out of the Act. But risk shrinks with structure: honest provision where a moral duty plainly exists; documented reasons for unequal treatment; strategic use of non-estate assets such as superannuation and joint ownership; and, where conflict is foreseeable, testamentary trusts that give a claimant-adjacent beneficiary an interest worth keeping. Read our guide to making a valid will, then have the awkward conversation with us instead of leaving it to the Supreme Court.
The bottom line
Family provision claims exist because wills sometimes fail the people they had a duty to hold — and because grief and fairness do not always arrive together. If you have been left out or left short, the six-month clock makes this week the right time to ask where you stand. If you are defending an estate, the same clock is your ally. Either way, most of these disputes end in a mediated settlement, and the quality of preparation decides its terms.
Left out, left short, or defending an estate against a claim? The six-month clock makes early advice essential. Call (03) 9001 4400 or send an enquiry.
This guide reflects the law applying in Victoria as at July 2026. It is general information only, not legal advice, and does not take your circumstances into account.