Francois Devillebichot (Francois) died on 3 March 2011. He made a will dated 19 February 2011. The proponents of the will were four of the defendants, while the claimant Mrs Chloe Brennan was Francois’ only child and sole heir under the intestacy rules. The will left £100,000 to Chloe, a studio flat in France to his sister Jacqueline and the residuary estate to his four siblings. After inheritance tax the net estate was £450,000.
Chloe alleged that her father was happy to die intestate in the knowledge that she would inherit his entire estate. Prior to the contested will he had ne...
The deceased testator, Leslie Stolkin, (T) had two sons from his marriage, the defendant Gary (G) and Mark (M). T divorced their mother in 1989. In September 1997 Pauline Greaves the claimant, (P), also divorced, moved in with T as cohabitant and became financially dependent on him. In 2001, T executed a will effectively leaving his entire estate to G, and also naming him as sole executor and trustee unless he died before T in which case M, a successful and wealthy businessman, would inherit . The will made no provision for P, but T left some notes directing that she was to receive regul...
The claimant and defendant are the two sons of Mr Igor Tociapski (the deceased), who died on 12 March 2010 and had made a will dated 20 June 2007 and a later will dated 13 May 2009 (the 2009 will). The 2007 will shared the estate between the two sons. The 2009 will gave the entire estate to the defendant. By a transfer dated 12 February 2010 (the transfer), the deceased gave to the defendant a property known as Hillcrest Cottage, in Northamptonshire.
The claimant sought to set aside the 2009 will on the grounds that the deceased did not know and approve its contents alternatively...
This was a retrial. The original trial in November 2012 was conducted in the absence of the defendant Andrew Jeffrey.
Daphne Jeffrey died in February 2010, aged 76, having divorced her husband David ten days before her death. She had two children – Nicholas and Andrew. She made a will in 2007 appointing Nicholas and Christopher Eyre (a friend left nothing in the will) as her executors and leaving her estate between Nicholas and Andrew’s three children. Prior to that she had made wills in 1982, 2002 and 2004. In 2008 she gifted two properties to Nicholas.
David and Daphne se...
Mrs Constance Rose Simon died on 15 January 2009 at the age of 91. She was the widow of Mr R W Simon, with whom she had four children: namely Jonathan, Robert, Hilary and David. David predeceased his mother on 1 November 2004.
Mrs Simon’s estate consisted of her house in St John’s Wood, London (valued at £1.75m), a flat in Westcliffe on Sea (valued at £262,500), savings and shares (worth £55,000), some land in Malta and 16 shares in R W Simon Ltd (the company).
By Mrs Simon’s will dated 23 March 1978, she had left her entire estate to her four children i...
Mrs Louisa Ashkettle (the testatrix) died on 27 September 2007, aged 86. She left two wills dated 2 October 1986 and 18 January 1999. While the 1986 will left everything equally between her two sons (the claimants) and her daughter (the respondent), the 1999 will (the will) left everything to the respondent. The claimants stated that:
Jessica Schrader (the testatrix) died a widow aged 98. The testatrix’s two sons, the claimant (Nick) and the defendant (Bill), survived her.
By a will dated 1 October 1990 (the 1990 will), drafted by a firm of solicitors, the testatrix had made specific gifts of shares and savings bonds to her grandchildren and thereafter left her residue (on her husband having predeceased) to Nick and Bill in equal shares absolutely.
However, in or about May 2005, the testatrix suffered a fall and Nick moved into the testatrix’s property to act as her carer. On 12 April 2006, a further wil...
Daphne Burgess, the deceased (D), died in May 2009 aged 80. She had three children: the appellant, Julia (J), and the respondents, Peter (P) and Libby (L). P and the deceased were very close. He organised her finances and in 2006 bought a bungalow for her to live in. It was to remain in his name, but subject to a lease to his mother to give her security. They agreed that she would pay £21,000 towards the cost of a new kitchen and bathroom that she wanted installed. J and P fell out for a number of reasons, mainly connected with the purchase of the bungalow and related arrangements affect...
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Mr Wharton (D) had been married many years ago and had two daughters from that marriage, Victoria and Gina, (V and G) the third and fourth defendants. He had another relationship which resulted in a third child, Amanda (A), the fifth defendant. He divorced his first wife in 1977 and cohabited with the claimant, Maureen, (M) who took his surname but did not marry him until immediately prior to his death in 2008. Between 1979 and 1995 D made and executed three successive wills all leaving substantial property to M and providing for his children, and some of M’s children, in various w...