Nephews locked in inheritance battle over care home snub

Telegraph

a day ago

Two nephews are locked in a transatlantic fight over the fortune of a widow who cut one side of her family out of her will after they suggested she go into a care home.
Doreen Stock died aged 86 in 2021 with no children, leaving her entire estate to Simon Stock, her nephew, and his wife Catherine, who lived only a few minutes from her south London home.
Mr Stock claimed he had been like a son to Doreen but the will is being contested after Ben Chiswick, her US-based great-nephew, launched a bid to inherit the estate himself.
Mr Chiswick, a 39-year-old propulsion engineer living in Michigan, had been due to inherit her fortune under a previous will written in 1986, but was disinherited by his great-aunt a year before her death after his parents suggested she spend time in a care home.
Fighting to reinstate the previous will, he claimed Doreen, whom he said was a 'fixture in his childhood', had dementia and did not have the mental capacity to make an informed decision.
Mr Chiswick, who has lived in the US since 2017, 'meaningful relationship' with Doreen beyond his early years and has not call her since the move, the Stocks argued.
Central London County Court heard that independent and 'occasionally stubborn' Doreen had a deep emotional attachment to her £400,000 home in Charminster Road, Mottingham, having shared it with her husband, Samuel, until his death in 2001.
In 2019, Doreen's relationship with the Chiswicks began to disintegrate following their suggestion of a home. Patricia, Mr Chiswick's mother, then went a step further and arranged a 'capacity assessment' for her aunt, which is claimed to have threatened Doreen's independence and resulted in the change to her will.
Mrs Chiswick denied upsetting the pensioner, insisting that the plan was only ever for a short break in a care home while she and her husband went on holiday.
The Chiswicks did not visit Doreen again after the assessment, which stated she 'lacked capacity', the court heard.
James McKean, acting for the Stocks, argued the assessment was deficient, with Doreen answering with 'prickly hostility' when she was quizzed about things that made no sense to her.
Other assessments around the same time had resulted in findings that she did have capacity, although she was suffering with 'mild dementia'.
Mr McKean added: 'The court will struggle to find any evidence of impaired cognition or reasoning. On the contrary, Doreen's behaviour, values and reasoning were consistent and plausible at all times.'
The judge is expected to give her ruling on the case at a later date.