The fortune of multimillionaire car boot king Richard Scott, who fathered 19 children, is at the centre of a £43m legal battle after he disinherited his eldest son. Scott, who died aged 81 in 2018, made his wealth running the UK's second biggest boot fair from his Cheshire farm, where ITV's 'Car Boot Challenge' was filmed.
His eldest son Adam Scott, 62, claims he sacrificed his life working on the farm from age nine and was promised it would all be his. However, after Scott remarried in 2016 to his former cleaner Jennifer Scott, 60, who was 28 years his junior, he wrote Adam out of his will, leaving Jennifer in control of the estate, which she says could be worth up to £43m.
Adam is now suing his step-mum, arguing his father was not in his right mind when he signed his final wills. He also claims his dad promised him the right to take over the farm after his death, and that he committed to a life of hard physical work based on those promises. But lawyers for Jennifer say Richard knew what he was doing, and that Adam's relationship with his father broke down after he tried to have Richard sectioned.
The High Court heard that Richard fathered six children with his first wife, plus six illegitimate children during that relationship, and another seven with Jennifer. The couple married in 2016 after Adam attempted to stop the wedding, claiming his father lacked mental capacity. Four registrars and a lawyer later confirmed Richard had capacity.
Adam is challenging the validity of the two final wills and bringing a claim under proprietary estoppel, arguing he was promised the farm. Jennifer claims Adam has no claim, having already received land and property worth over £10m before Richard's death. The estate, including land around Chelford, Cheshire, has been valued for probate at £7m, but Jennifer says it is worth £43m based on offers and development potential.
