29 February 2024 , 11:39
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A barrister who was left £1.25million in his mum's will is being sued by a disinherited younger brother who claims there are "suspicious circumstances" surrounding his older sibling's involvement in the document.
Duncan Grierson's allegations focus on probate lawyer Robert Grierson having “prepared and supervised” their 84-year-old mum Elise's last will two months before her death. Robert, 55, who lived with his mum in the £1m family home for over 20 years, inherited almost everything when Elise died on March 16, 2022, with eco-investment boss Duncan getting just £10,000.
A previous will from January 2020 had largely split her assets between the two brothers and Elise signed her last will - virtually cutting out her younger son - on January 24, 2022, just 51 days before she died. Now, nearly two years after his mother’s death, Duncan Grierson, 54, is challenging the validity of Elise's will and claiming his mum didn't understand its contents.
The £1m family home in Sutton Coldfield, being fought over by brothers Robert and Duncan Grierson (Supplied by Champion News)His barrister, Constance McDonnell KC, said the will was "a radical departure from the deceased’s previous history of treating her two sons equally" and should arouse "a very high level of suspicion as to knowledge and approval". In a further twist, she claimed Robert Grierson’s credibility has been undermined after a legal document, transferring half of Elise's house to her barrister's son in 2013, was found by an expert to be a forgery.
But Robert Grierson is fighting to uphold the validity of the will and has accused his younger brother of trying to "bully" him. The High Court in London heard the main asset left by Mrs Grierson was the £1m family home on an exclusive private estate in Kenilworth Close, Sutton Coldfield, where Robert lived with his parents since 1999. He also bases his legal practice there specialising in probate and several other forms of civil law.
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Her entire estate was worth about £1.25m, Robert Grierson said outside court. In her final will, Mrs Grierson all but disinherited her younger son, Duncan. But Judge Iain Pester was told by Ms McDonnell that Elise “probably had dementia” when the will was drawn up.
On top of that, Robert Grierson personally prepared the will document and “supervised the deceased’s signing with no professional involvement by any third party,” she pointed out in her stated case. Ms McDonnell also alleged irregularities in the signing of the will, claiming that one witness didn’t see Elise sign the document as required by law. There was, she claimed, a suspicion of a “lack of knowledge and approval” by Elise about the meaning of the will when it was signed off.
She said: “There are a number of suspicious circumstances as to the preparation and signing of the 2022 will, including that Robert Grierson, the principal beneficiary of the 2022 will, prepared that document himself and supervised the deceased’s signing thereof with no professional involvement by any third party. The will also represents a radical departure from the deceased’s previous history of treating her two sons equally."
She told the judge: "In all the circumstances pleaded by the claimant…there is a very high level of suspicion as to knowledge and approval and a heavy burden of proof upon Robert.”
Ms McDonnell went on to claim that Robert's credibility has been undermined after it emerged that his mum’s signature on a legal document dating back to 2013 had been forged. The document - a “declaration of trust” - had transferred Robert a 50% stake in his mum’s property and was produced by him in June 2022 following her death.
But the barrister highlighted expert forensic evidence demonstrating that Mrs Grierson’s signature on the 2013 document was faked, arguing that this cast even more doubt on the preparations of her final January 2022 will.
She said. “The issue of the authenticity of the declaration has a direct impact upon the issue of the validity of the 2022 will, both as to Robert Grierson’s credibility and as to the circumstances in which the will was produced.”
Robert Grierson, representing himself in court, told the judge he was no longer relying on the validity of the 2013 declaration of trust. But he insisted his brother’s forgery claim over the document was irrelevant and “an attempt to bully" him by exerting pressure during the litigation over the will.
The case reached court for a brief pre-trial hearing as Duncan Grierson’s lawyers successfully applied for an order compelling his brother to search for and disclose potentially key documents in the case. His barrister said Robert had failed to produce potentially key trial material such as family emails and text messages, as well as the original “native” versions of the declaration of trust and his mum’s final will.
Judge Pester said: “The claimant is not applying for permission to search through his brother’s electronic devices. But Robert is being ordered to search his own electronic devices in order to locate documents in relation to disclosure. The claimant is not seeking to search his brother’s devices at his home, but he must do a proper job of searching himself.”
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Robert, however, insisted he had done the maximum to disclose everything in his possession, adding: “I literally don’t have these native documents”.
The judge also allowed Duncan to amend his case to formally claim that Elise’s signature on the 2013 declaration was forged. Duncan Grierson said after the hearing that he was fighting the case against his barrister brother on principle, adding: “It’s not at all about the money”.
The case will return to court for a full trial later this year.