A woman who was left just £1 when her stepfather passed away has failed in her challenge to the validity of his final will.
The stepfather had formed a close friendship with a woman he had originally hired as a cleaner in 2011. They shared an interest in stamp collecting and, as his health declined, she acted as his carer, supporting him in his day-to-day life and visiting him in hospital. The man sold his stamp collection to her for a nominal amount, and in 2019 he made a new will leaving the bulk of his estate, worth around £250,000, to her. The will included a bequest of £15,000 to his stepdaughter: however, he made a codicil the following year reducing her legacy to just £1. He died in 2021, at the age of 90.
The stepdaughter sought to have the will and codicil declared invalid on the grounds that her stepfather did not know and approve their contents. She argued that a will he had made in 2007, leaving his estate equally to his six children and stepchildren, was his last valid will.
The County Court observed that the cleaner had become the ‘single biggest constant’ in the stepfather’s life. The gift of the stamp collection and the legacy were intended to thank her for her friendship and support. It was alleged that the stepdaughter had behaved in a way her stepfather found disrespectful and distressing, including changing the locks of his property while he was in hospital, and this had led him to make the codicil.
Confirming the validity of the 2019 will, as modified by the codicil, the Court found that the evidence indicated that he had known what he was doing when he made it.