Beverley Neate claims her stepfather Ray Watts, from Great Waldingfield in Suffolk, could not really have intended to disinherit her, in a case which has come to court in London.
A bitter row has broken out after an elderly stamp collector sold his £200,000 collection to his cleaner for just £1, before leaving most of his £250,000 estate to her in his will.
His step-daughter, Beverley Neate, is now fighting to overturn the will claiming he could not really have intended to disinherit her after previously planning to split his estate between the six children and step-children, a court has heard. Beverley Neate, pictured outside Central London County Court, is challenging the new will which was written by her stepfather Ray Watts in 2019 two years before his death
Mr Watts had been a clerk at Lloyds Bank during his working life, but in retirement devoted himself to philately, attending fairs and dealing in stamps.Mrs Pope came into Mr Watts' life after he placed an advertisement for a cleaner, but gradually she took on more and more duties until she was caring for him too.
However, he then executed a codicil - a document altering the effect of a will - in 2020, slashing Mrs Neate's share to a 'deliberately derisory' legacy of a single pound, the court heard. There was also evidence of 'significant' involvement of Mrs Pope in the making of the will, with her contacting solicitors to attend to Mr Watts in hospital, he said.
'Mrs Neate confirms that 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.' He said the stepdaughter's challenge was based on a 'rather nebulous jumble of allegations' and that the will and codicil were perfectly valid.
He said Mrs Pope's account had been corroborated by Mr Watts' three biological children, with Nicholas Watts saying his father considered he had given the three children enough during his lifetime.
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