A woman has been told she cannot inherit her mum’s entire estate after damning footage emerged of her forcing her signature.
Lisa Baverstock printed off a template will that she found online, making her executor and sole beneficiary of her mother Margaret’s entire £700,000 fortune.
She then took it to her mum’s deathbed in March 2021, put a pen in her hand and guided her hand – at the time she was so ill she could barely flicker an eyelid and she died eight days later.
Lisa, 55, inherited the entire estate, including Margaret’s house in Herne Hill, south London, while her brother John, 61, was cut out of the will entirely when their mum died eight days later.
But John challenged the will, arguing the footage showed it was ‘not the independent act of the deceased, but she was effectively forced by the physical actions of Lisa into participating in a pantomime of due execution of a document she did not comprehend’.
He also said that Lisa had grown resentful towards him, effectively excluding him from their mother’s house.
Lisa Baverstock wrote the will herself using an online template (Picture: Champion News)
Judge Jane Evans-Gordon agreed that Margaret had no idea what was going on – having been diagnosed with dementia in 2021 – and declared the will invalid.
As a result, the judge found that Margaret died intestate so the brother and sister must share the assets 50/50. Lisa will also have to pay John’s £80,000 legal bill.
The footage showed Margaret could barely talk and was only able to respond by saying ‘yeah’ or grunting.
Speaking on behalf of John, barrister Mark Jones said Lisa was ‘repeatedly attempting to place a pen into her mother’s right hand in a manner by which the deceased could hold or grip the same.
‘She finally placed a pen between her fingers and placed first her right hand and then her left hand over the deceased’s hand.’
‘By force and motion of her own left hand’ she then ‘propelled’ her mother’s writing hand to mark the will, he added.
The Judge said: ‘She could not sign it herself because she was unable to hold the pen or move her hand to write her name.
Her brother, John, challeneged the will saying that his sister had grown resentful towards him (Picture: Champion News)
‘Lisa manipulated her hand and herself physically caused the deceased’s hand to move and make marks on the document.’
‘I am satisfied that the deceased had no idea what was going on. She was unable to act independently and, although she responded with a “yeah” or even a grunt when addressed as mum, that was simply a response to being directly addressed and didn’t indicate consent to signing the will or acknowledging its contents.
‘She looked completely blank during the reading of the will and on all save one occasion she only responded to her daughter.
‘At no point did Margaret ask Lisa for help in signing the will or direct her to sign the will on her behalf.
‘Nobody ensured that she understood what was happening by asking her questions about the contents of the will or asking her to tell them her wishes, and she cannot fairly be said to have signed the will.
‘The deceased was also extremely frail and on her deathbed. In these circumstances, it was necessary to question Margaret to ensure her understanding.
‘Merely reading out the document and asking if she understood it was not enough.’
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
