A birth doula and yoga teacher who was cut out of her dying husband's £5 million fortune has won a High Court battle against her brother-in-law. Gabriela Teixeira, 51, originally from Brazil, married wealthy London property investor and restaurateur Abbas Moaven in 2002 after meeting him at one of his restaurants in Notting Hill in 2000.
The couple had two children and lived in high-end properties in desirable London neighbourhoods such as Holland Park and Kensington. However, after Abbas died aged 45 in 2012, Gabriela discovered that his estate—which she and her children were due to inherit—could be worthless. Weeks before his death, Abbas had signed legal documents declaring that four properties, then worth over £3 million, were shared with his mother and brother, Amir, substantially diminishing the estate.
Gabriela, along with her children Elis and Aryan, launched a High Court battle against Amir to restore the properties to the estate, which lawyers said could then be worth up to £5 million. She argued that the documents were a 'sham', pointing to lawyers' notes revealing concerns that she might 'disappear to Brazil' with the children after Abbas died.
Deputy Master Timothy Bowles ruled that the documents were a 'fiction' and a 'sham' designed to prevent Gabriela from accessing most of her husband's wealth. The properties now fall into Abbas's estate to be inherited by Gabriela and her children. Gabriela, who works as a birth doula and yoga teacher, described receiving the 'call to serve' after the birth of her first child.
