Wills and Probate Disputes Advice

A financier’s widow who is battling her stepdaughter over his £18million estate has denied claims she ‘bullied and dominated’ her frail husband.

Richard Thornton died in 2013 leaving half his estate to his wife Susie.

The other half of the estate went into a trust for the rest of his family, including his three adult children and his grandchildren.

However, the daughter, Lucy Torrington has made an application to the High Court to have the will overturned to remove her step-mother as an executor of the will, with a ‘life interest’ in the half of the fortune she didn’t inherit.

She claims her step-mother ‘unduly influenced’ her father and that he did not ‘know or understand’ the contents of his will.

A tape recording of Susie saying of her step-daughters: ‘They’ve done nothing but cause you pain all their lives and they’ve made messes of their own lives’.

For Lucy, the will meant that she was ‘unlikely to receive his bounty until after Susie’s death’.

Lawyers for Susie argued that Mr Thornton’s mind was still sharp and clear at the time of making the will and the idea that he was ‘bullied’ into signing it by his wife was ‘fanciful’.

The High Court hearing continues.

Wills and Probate disputes can be very complex and require expert legal guidance to resolve matters as fairly as possible.

At Wrigley Claydon, we fight on your behalf to make this difficult time a little easier, whether you are bringing a claim or you are on the receiving end. We are experienced in this field and have won complex cases for our clients.

As it is an emotional time we deal with our cases sensitively.

If you are looking for wills and probate disputes advice please contact us. Call 0161 624 6811 to speak to Shalish Mehta, in our civil and commercial litigation department or email sm@wrigleyclaydon.com.

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Shalish Mehta

Shalish is an experienced dispute resolution solicitor who joined the firm in 2002 ago upon qualifying as a solicitor and provides a proactive approach whilst retaining the personal touch to help you achieve the best possible outcome for your case. He acts on behalf of both private individuals and commercial clients. He can assist and advise at any stage of a dispute including mediation through to court action and injunctions. Shalish is a keen sportsman, regularly playing cricket and five-a-side football and also watching live sport. He enjoys city breaks and takes great pleasure in sampling different cuisines from around the world. Shalish is fluent in Gujarati and will happily represent those for whom Guajarati is the first language, in English. He is also happy to offer his services as a translator to our clients as necessary. What clients say about Shalish: “We feel the service was perfect and found our solicitor, Shalish Mehta, very professional and helpful in all aspects”