Man died in contract dictated (8)
I believe the answer is:
demanded
'dictated' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'man died in contract' is the wordplay.
'died' becomes 'd' (abbreviation next to the year of someone's death).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'contract' becomes 'deed' (I've seen this in other clues).
'man'+'d'='mand'
'mand' going within 'deed' is 'DEMANDED'.
(Other definitions for demanded that I've seen before include "Called for" , "Requested imperiously as if by right" , "Insisted upon" , "Requested forcefully" , "Dictated" .)