A HUGE inheritance row has erupted over a stamp collector’s £250,000 fortune after he changed his will and left everything to his cleaner.
Ray Watts had previously wanted to split his estate among his family, but wrote a new will two years prior to his death aged 90 in 2021.
A row has erupted over the fortune of the late Ray Watts[/caption]
Beverley Neate outside Central London County Court after a hearing over the ongoing dispute[/caption]
Sue Pope claims she was far more than just a cleaner and carer for Mr Watts[/caption]
His stepdaughter Beverley Neate has claimed he could not have intended to disinherit her in favour of leaving his fortune to cleaner Sue Pope.
Mrs Pope, who also acted as his informal carer, purchased the £200,000 stamp collection for just £1.
But Mrs Neate, the daughter of Mr Watts’ second wife, is now fighting to overturn the will at Central London County Court.
She argues Mrs Pope cannot prove that it reflected her stepdad’s true intentions.
But Mrs Pope says she was far more than just a cleaner and carer for Mr Watts, instead claiming he wanted to cut out his “disrespectful” stepdaughter after she changed the locks at his home while he was in hospital.
The court has heard Mr Watts had three children – Nicholas and Lesley Watts and Deborah Humphreys – by his first wife Madeline Watts before her death in 1995.
He then married Fay Watts, his second wife, in 1998, with her children Mrs Neate and sons Mark and Sean Brennan – becoming his stepkids before Fay died in 2011.
During his life, Mr Watts had been a clerk at Lloyds Bank, before devoting himself to stamp collecting and dealing.
Valued at up to £200,000 by Mrs Neate, his collection included stamps dating back as far as the 1840s.
Mrs Pope then came into Mr Watts’ life after he placed an advert for a cleaner, but she gradually took on more duties until becoming a carer for him, too.
Under a will written in 2007, Mr Watts intended to leave his estate, including his share of the family home in Great Waldingfield, near Sudbury, Suffolk, to his six children and stepchildren divided equally.
But a new will was created in 2019, after he had been admitted to hospital following a serious fall at home in which he had lain undiscovered for hours.
The new will left £15,000 to each of his three children and Mrs Neate, with the rest of an estate valued at about £250,000 going to Mrs Pope.
But Mr Watts then executed a codocil, a document altering the effect of a will, in 2020.
This change slashed Mrs Neate’s share to a “deliberately derisory” legacy of a single pound, the court heard.
Mrs Neate is now challenging the validity of the will and codicil, with her lawyers claiming Mrs Pope cannot show the ailing pensioner had “knowledge and approval” of its contents.
Her barrister Nathan Wells said Mr Watts was “confused with a reduced level of consciousness” and there had been a “slowing of his thinking” when he was in hospital.
Mr Watts also told the court there was evidence of “significant” involvement of Mrs Pope in the making of the will, having asked solicitors to see Mr Watts in hospital.
He added: “In addition to the evidence of a failing mind and the evidence of significant beneficiary involvement, there were a number of other circumstances surrounding the making of the 2019 will which should excite the suspicion of the court.
“The terms of the 2019 will represented a radical change from the provisions of the 2007 will, which is recognised as a factor going to knowledge and approval.
“Because of the concerns about the deceased’s ‘failing mind’ and the obvious and substantial degree of beneficiary involvement, Mrs Pope also has to meet the stricter requirements for establishing knowledge and approval.
“Mrs Neate confirms it would have been very out of character for the deceased to do something as spiteful as leaving her a deliberately derisory legacy of £1 in his will.”
Mrs Neate insists she had a “good relationship” with her stepdad.
The court heard they had been in continued contact, with the stepdaughter providing assistance with medical appointments and describing how Mr Watts would spend Christmas with her and her husband.
But Elis Gomer, representing Mrs Pope, told the court the changein the will was perfectly valid.
He said Mrs Neate’s arguments were based on a “rather nebulous jumble of allegations”.
Mr Gomer said Mr Watts had wanted to Mrs Pope to benefit from his 2019 will and slashed his stepdaughter’s inheritance to £1 because of her “disrespectful” actions.
“The barrister said Mrs Neate’s behaviour towards the end of Mr Watt’s life had been “disrespectful and distressing”.
The actions had been corroborated by Mr Watt’s three biological children, the court heard.
He added: “It was quite apparent from at least 2015 onwards that the extent of Mrs Pope’s involvement with the deceased was far in excess of anything one might expect from a paid domestic cleaner between providing care, attending stamp fairs with the deceased, and assisting with other aspects of his life.
“Similarly, Mrs Pope’s position is that the execution of the 2020 codicil was prompted by a series of incidents involving behaviour by Mrs Neate which the deceased found disrespectful and distressing.”
These actions are said to have included having the locks changed while he was in hospital.
Mr Gomer added: “She [Mrs Neate] has clearly become convinced the terms of the 2019 will and 2020 codicil are ‘suspicious’ and there is evidence to suggest something has ‘gone wrong’ in their creation.
“It is submitted the objective evidence simply does not support that position and… the deceased knew and approved the terms of the 2019 will and the 2020 codicil.”
On top of her £200,000 share of Mr Watts’ estate Mrs Pope also got his stamp collection for a nominal sum.
But she says it was worth no more than £40,000 rather than £200,000.
The case continues.
Mr Watts had been a clerk at Lloyds Bank before devoting himself to stamp collecting[/caption]
