Sister Loses £600k Inheritance in High Court Battle Over Father's Will
A woman who believed she had inherited her father's entire £600,000 fortune has been left with virtually nothing after losing a bitter High Court battle against her younger sister. Anju Patel, 58, has seen her expected inheritance evaporate following a ruling that declared her father's final will to be "highly suspicious."
The Disputed Inheritance
Laxmikant Patel, who died aged 85 in October 2021, appeared to leave his £600,000 home in Cambridge Road, Harrow, entirely to his daughter Anju in a will made just two months before his death. His other two children – younger daughter Bhavenetta Stewart-Brown, 52, and older son Piyush Patel, 62 – were left just £250 each in that document.
However, this represented a dramatic departure from previous wills. The 2019 will, which the High Court has now upheld, left £50,000 to Anju Patel with the remainder of the estate split into 33% shares for each of the three children, plus 1% to a charitable trust.
A Family Divided
At the heart of the case were conflicting claims about Laxmikant Patel's relationships with his children during his final years. Anju Patel claimed her father had developed growing mistrust toward her siblings, believing "they were only after his property."
She told the court her father had complained that Ms Stewart-Brown and Piyush Patel failed to show him "true affection," describing his son as "hugely controlling" and his younger daughter as having a "bad temper" and taking "massive advantage" of her elderly father.
However, Ms Stewart-Brown argued that a "cloud of suspicion" hung over the way the 2021 will was drawn up and executed. Her legal team pointed out that Laxmikant Patel was terminally ill, frail, and in hospital subject to Covid restrictions when the document was created in August 2021.
The High Court's Ruling
Last December at London's High Court, Deputy Master Jason Raeburn delivered a devastating verdict for Anju Patel. He ruled in favour of Ms Stewart-Brown, upholding the 2019 will that split the estate roughly three ways between the siblings.
The judge declared the circumstances surrounding the 2021 will to be "highly suspicious," noting several critical flaws. "Both witnesses said they used the same pen as the deceased, but it's plain from the face of the will that it wasn't signed by all the participating parties using the same pen," he observed.
He added: "I am not therefore satisfied that a signature was made by Laxmikant Patel in the presence of all the witnesses at the same time, so there was no due execution of the will."
Financial Consequences
The ruling has left Anju Patel in a dire financial position. Not only has she lost approximately two-thirds of her expected inheritance, but she has also been ordered to pay her sister's court costs, which lawyers estimate could exceed £400,000.
Vijaykant Patel, the executor of the 2021 will, was also made jointly and severally liable for paying Ms Stewart-Brown's costs. The court heard that the total bill, including VAT, could reach over £450,000.
The approximately £250,000 which Ms Patel is entitled to under the upheld 2019 will is now set to be completely wiped out by the costs of the case. She will also have to fund her own undisclosed legal costs.
Background and Allegations
The court heard that Laxmikant Patel was a gentle, hard-working man who had carved out a new life for his family after migrating from Uganda in the early 1970s. He worked shifts at the Ford motor plant in Dagenham while his wife, Shardaben, ran a newsagent's.
A religious man who attended the Swaminarayan temple in Neasden, north London, daily, he and his wife had donated around £180,000 to the temple throughout their lives.
Ms Stewart-Brown's barrister, Tim Sherwin, described the decision to leave the entire house to Anju as "most odd." He claimed that Ms Patel, a Hare Krishna follower, had worked to distance her father from his accustomed Swaminarayan faith.
"The evidence shows a clear pattern of isolation and control over the deceased on the part of Anju and her husband which became especially stark when he was in the hospital at the end of his life," Mr Sherwin told the judge.
Legal Aftermath
At a further hearing, the judge ordered that Ms Patel and Vijaykant Patel are each jointly liable to pay Ms Stewart-Brown's costs of fighting the case. He also ordered an up-front payment on account of costs of around £180,000 plus VAT.
James Kane, Ms Patel's barrister, asked the judge for permission to appeal against the ruling on her behalf, but this request was refused. The judge found there was no compelling evidence that Laxmikant Patel "knew and approved" of the 2021 will's contents.
"The particular circumstances of the instructions and execution of the 2021 will are suspicious – highly suspicious," he concluded. "A particular feature was that it effectively disinherited two of his three children."
