A Devon animal sanctuary dedicated to rescuing alpacas has suffered a crushing High Court defeat in its bid to claim a £350,000 inheritance from a pensioner's estate.
The case centred on the will of Patrica Rust, a retired bank secretary from Torquay, who passed away in 2021. The Alpaca Guardians of the South West, a charity she supported, contested the will, which left the majority of her estate to her two cousins.
The Core of the Controversy
The charity's legal team argued that a 2015 document, which purportedly left Ms. Rust's entire fortune to them, was valid. They claimed the retired secretary had been coerced into writing a new will in 2017 that instead favoured her family.
However, presiding judge Deputy Master Matthew Marsh delivered a scathing verdict. He found the charity's key witness, its founder and trustee, to be an 'unreliable and dishonest' historian whose evidence was 'wholly unbelievable'.
A Story of Undue Influence?
The court heard that Ms. Rust, who had no immediate family, had developed a close relationship with the charity after visiting it. The defence successfully argued that the founder had exerted 'undue influence' over the vulnerable pensioner, who was in her 80s and suffering from health issues.
Evidence presented suggested the charity's founder had taken control of Ms. Rust's finances and social life, even accompanying her to solicitor appointments. The 2017 will was presented as an act of reclaiming independence.
The judge ultimately upheld the 2017 will, stating the evidence for the earlier document was insufficient and tainted by the founder's lack of credibility. This ruling ensures the estate will pass to Ms. Rust's blood relatives as she ultimately intended.
