Jean Clitheroe, 76, left almost her entire estate to her son when she died in 2017
Jean, of Essex, cut shopaholic daughter out, saying she would fritter it away
Judge ruled Jean died intestate because she was suffering from delusions
Son John challenged ruling in ground-breaking test case which sought to scrap 150-year-old inheritance law and claim it no longer applied in modern society
High Court judge disagreed and threw out John s argument, offering the siblings a chance to settle the matter out of court to avoid further costly proceedings
By Jemma Slingo2021-05-05T11:39:00+01:00
A ‘bitter’ probate dispute in which a mother’s grief allegedly rendered her wills invalid has been adjourned by the High Court.
Clitheroe v Bond concerns a dispute between a brother and sister over the validity of two wills made by their late mother. The court was asked to decide whether the mother died intestate – meaning daughter Susan Jane Bond and son John Keith Clitheroe would receive an equal share of the £400,000 estate – or whether her wills were valid, meaning almost all of the residuary estate would go to the son.
In the original trial, Deputy Master Linwood refused to admit the two wills to probate on grounds of incapacity. He found the mother was suffering from an affective disorder at the material times, which included a complex grief reaction, insane delusions and persisting depression following the death of her eldest child from cancer.
Devastated parents watched daughter starve to death in front of them in hospital
The parents of Laura Booth spoke out after an inquest concluded hospital neglect contributed to the death of Laura Booth, who was admitted for a routine eye operation
Laura Booth died after being admitted to hospital for a routine eye operation (Image: PA)
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BBC News
Published
image captionLaura Booth s mother Patricia said she was so lovely, so kind and bubbly
The family of a disabled woman who died of neglect after an operation have told of their very hard fight for justice.
Laura Booth, 21, died in October 2016 at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, after being refused food as staff ignored her , an inquest heard.
Her mother Patricia said part of us died when Laura died , but the coroner s ruling would help other people with learning disabilities.
The hospital trust said Ms Booth and her family were let down .
Ms Booth had been diagnosed with partial trisomy 13 at birth and had a number of different life-limiting complications, including learning disabilities.
Neglect Contributed to Young Disabled Woman s Hospital Death, Coroner Rules medscape.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medscape.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.