Friday, March 14, 2025 - A woman tried to inherit her mother's entire estate by fraudulently getting her to sign the estate over to her.
Lisa Baverstock printed off a template will that she found online,
making her executor and sole beneficiary of her mother Margaret’s entire
£700,000 fortune.
She then took it to her mum’s deathbed in March 2021, put a pen in her
hand and guided her hand. At the time, her mother was so ill she could barely
flicker an eyelid and she d!ed eight days later.
Lisa, 55, inherited the entire estate, including Margaret’s house in
Herne Hill, south London, while her brother John, 61, was cut out of the will
entirely when their mum d!ed eight days later.
However, John challenged the will, arguing
the footage showed it was "not the independent act of the deceased, but
she was effectively forced by the physical actions of Lisa into participating
in a pantomime of due execution of a document she did not
comprehend".
He also said that Lisa had grown resentful
towards him, effectively excluding him from their mother’s house.
Lisa has now been told she cannot inherit
her mum’s entire estate after damning footage emerged of her forcing her
signature.
Judge Jane Evans-Gordon agreed that
Margaret had no idea what was going on – having been diagnosed with dementia in
2021 – and declared the will invalid.
As a result, the judge found that Margaret
d!ed intestate so the brother and sister must share the assets 50/50. Lisa will
also have to pay John’s £80,000 legal bill.
The footage showed Margaret could barely
talk and was only able to respond by saying "yeah" or grunting.
Speaking on behalf of John, barrister Mark
Jones said Lisa was "repeatedly attempting to place a pen into her
mother’s right hand in a manner by which the deceased could hold or grip the
same.
"She finally placed a pen between her
fingers and placed first her right hand and then her left hand over the
deceased’s hand."
"By force and motion of her own left hand" she then
"propelled" her mother’s writing hand to mark the will, he
added.
The Judge said: "She could not sign it
herself because she was unable to hold the pen or move her hand to write her
name.
"Lisa manipulated her hand and herself
physically caused the deceased’s hand to move and make marks on the
document."
"I am satisfied that the deceased had
no idea what was going on. She was unable to act independently and, although
she responded with a 'yeah' or even a grunt when addressed as mum, that was
simply a response to being directly addressed and didn’t indicate consent to
signing the will or acknowledging its contents.
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