Judge rules that disabled man’s later will should be discounted
Two men havewon a High Court battle to overturn their brother’s will, after he left the vast majority of his estate to his long-time carer.
David Poole, who passed away in 2013, had made the arrangements only weeks before his death, leaving some 95 per cent of his £1.1million fortune to Mark Everall, who acted as the 46-year-old’s ‘supporting landlord’.
Mr Poole had been left in need of ongoing assistance after suffering serious injuries in a motorcycle crash in the mid-1980s.
Mr Everall had been appointed by Worcestershire County Council to carry out the support role in 1993.
Following their brother’s death, siblings Darren and Sean – who had been left nothing – had launched legal action to challenge the validity of the document.
Following a six-day hearing in June, Judge David Cooke last month ruled in favour of the men.
The Judge said that Mr Everall had not produced the evidence to show that Mr Poole had known and approved the terms of the will.
He also ruled that the deceased didn’t understand what he was doing and was “prone to suggestibility”, so the document could not truly represent his intentions.
Speaking after the judgment, Sean said: “When I heard the Judge has said those things it was just a relief, no-one in authority had ever believed us.
“That will was never my brother’s true wishes, I wanted to honour my brother so took it to court.”
The High Court declared in favour of an earlier will, dating from 2012, in which 60 per cent of the estate was to be shared out between various good causes.
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