Aunt dramatically cuts nephew out of £400k will for suggesting she move into a care home sparking bitter inheritance row
WILL FURY
The row is dependent on whether Doreen's dementia meant her judgement was impaired
Published: 13:30,
Updated: 13:32,
AN AUNT cut her nephew out of her £400,000 will for suggesting she move into a care home.
Simon Stock inherited his aunt Doreen's entire estate after she died in 2021 aged 86.
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But Doreen's grand-nephew Ben Chiswick, 39, is now suing Simon and his wife Catherine in the hopes of inheriting the fortune himself.
A previous will, written in 1986, had credited Ben as Doreen's heir.
However, his great-aunt disinherited Ben's side of the family a year before her death - after his parents suggested she go into a care home.
In the lawsuit, he alleges that Doreen was unable to understand what she was doing when she amended the will arguing her dementia had impaired her judgment.
Both Ben and Simon claim to have been close to the deceased widow.
Ben, who moved to the US in 2017, claims she was a "fixture in his childhood."
However, Simon was described as "the nearest thing to a son she had," with him and his wife living minutes away from her South London home.
The will primarily concerns Doreen's home on Charminster Road in Bromley - which is currently valued at around £400,000.
Prior to her death, Doreen is understood to have had a good relationship with Ben's parents, Patricia and Brent Chiswick.
She had made a lasting power of attorney in their favour before changing the will shortly before her death.
Giving a statement at Central London County Court, Ben said: "Doreen and I had a really happy relationship and she understood that leaving her estate to me would make a massive difference to my life."
Simon and Catherine's barrister argued that he too was close with Doreen, citing evidence that she contributed to his school fees as a child.
While Doreen did have a strong relationship with Ben's parents, it is alleged that this was ruined after they suggested she go into a care home in 2019.
Patricia then went on to arrange a "capacity assessment" for Doreen, supposedly the catalyst for her changing her will as she felt her independence was under threat.
This led to "building resentment" between the family, which "finally boiled over in the summer of 2019 when the Chiswicks made an ill-judged - though perhaps well-intentioned - suggestion to Doreen that she spend a period in residential care."
After undergoing the assessment, a report stated she "lacked capacity" - but she had already made headway in revoking the power of attorney and changing the will according to Simon's lawyers.
Being questioned in court, Patricia insisted they only intended for Doreen to spend a short period in care while she and her husband were away.
Patricia said: "It was simply a suggestion because we don't usually go away for three weeks at a time, and I think she had been quite unwell and her health was deteriorating in general.
"I was concerned about leaving her and I thought it would be quite nice if she could go somewhere where she could be looked after while we were away.
"It was absolutely stressed that it was for three weeks. There was no suggestion she was going to stay there indefinitely."
The rift was so great that Ben's parents did not visit Doreen after the capacity assessment until her death.
However, Ben's lawyer claims that she was "vulnerable and was behaving out of character" when she altered her will.
Simon's lawyers claim that the aforementioned assessment was inaccurate, with other assessments stating that she did have capacity to change her will.
His lawyer said: "Doreen may have had some memory problems, but capacity and memory are different beasts" although he did acknowledge she was suffering from "mild" dementia.
He added that Doreen's previous will was over 30 years old, making it entirely plausible that she would change her mind before her death, especially in light of ongoing disputes.
Additionally, Ben had not spoken to Doreen since moving to the US in 2017 - either in person or on the phone.
In contrast, Simon and Catherine had visited regularly up until her death.
The judge is expected to deliver a ruling at a later date.
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