An electrician has won a legal battle of £ 700,000 against his younger sister after a video has arisen about holding her and 'propagating' the pen of her dying mother to sign her fortune on her.
In March 2021, 76-year-old Margaret Baverstock was on her deathbed and was so sick that she “could barely flicker an eyelid.”
Then she drew a will that closed her son John Baverstock from the right to her money and leave everything to her daughter Lisa.
John, now 61, was left with nothing of his mother's estate when she died eight days later, leaving all her wealth, including her house in Guernsey Grove, Herne Hill, South London, left to his now 55-year-old sister.
John then challenged the will in court after a video showed the forcing of his sister; Her mother to sign a document that gives her fortune away.
After seeing the Lisa film who accompanied and manipulated the hand of her mother, a judge has now declared the will invalid and John handed half of his mother money.
Judge Jane Evans-Gordon said about the case and said she was convinced that Margaret had no idea what was going on 'the moment the document was signed, which means that the will is invalid.
Suffering from advanced dementia, arthritis and suspected lung congestion, the dying woman was unable to sign her name or even understand what she was asked to sign, the judge decided.
An exhibition from the court shows the scene as the alleged last will of Margaret Baverstock was made with her daughter Lisa Baverstock led her hand
John Baverstock, 61, challenged the will at the Central Court of London and claimed that his sister forced his mother to sign her fortune away
The court of the center of London heard that Margaret was diagnosed in 2014 and her last will 'on her deathbed' only eight days before she died.
John claimed that Lisa had become resentment in the run -up to the death of his mother and had effectively excluded him from his mother's house.
After he learned that he had been taken out of the will, he challenged it on the basis of the fact that she was too mentally weak to understand what she did or signed.
Videos of the will that is signed, produced before the court by Lisa himself, also doubt its validity and showed that their mother was struggling through her last will while 'terminally ill'
The films showed that the former care provider Margaret could only indicate her consent with the most basic questions by saying 'yes' or by just growling.
John's lawyer, Mark Jones, described Lisa as “repeatedly trying to place a pen in her mother's right hand in a way in which the deceased could hold or hold the same.”
“She finally placed a pen between her fingers … and first put her right hand and then her left hand over the hand of the deceased,” he added.
“With violence and movement of her own left hand,” she then pushed her mother's writing hand to mark the will, he explained.
Lisa Baverstock claimed that the will had changed in accordance with the wishes of her dying mother
The will itself was a homemade document that was printed from an online template and prepared by Lisa, and called her as an executor and the only beneficiary of Margaret.
John claimed that his sister, who moved to their mother's house to take care of her in 2019, had become increasingly delight and resentment opposite him, in a row in a row in February 2021 in the parental home.
The 'catalyst' for the row was Lisa's fear that “someone tried to sell the building without her knowledge,” explained her brother's lawyer.
“Lisa threatened to call the police if John did not return the house keys and leave the property, what he did without further Demur,” said Mr. Jones.
“John speculates, ex post facto, about whether this was made by Lisa to exclude him and to discredit him in the eyes of his deceased mother.”
But Lisa, a former coach driver who represented herself in court, said that her mother was determined that she had to inherit her house and insisted that she wanted the will to be set up to display her wishes.
She said she gives up everything to take care of her mother 24/7 and claimed that she had begged her brother 'crying on the phone to come down and give me' and to maintain that from 2017 that could not be hindered 'with his mother.
“As far as the will is concerned, it was actually how my mother wanted to do her wishes,” Lisa told the court. “She didn't want my brother to inherit something and made me completely clear over the years.”
Lisa Baverstock saw the will as her dying mother lay in bed
In the video shown to the court, Lisa holds her mother's hand while signing the document
John, however, stated that he did his utmost to see and help their mother – 'visit her regularly, weekly or every two weeks' until his sister actually excludes him.
Lisa asked her brother in the witness box and asked, “Do you remember that mum said you should leave the house?” To which he answered: “I can't remember that, the only person trying to get me out of the house was my sister – you.”
The judge declared the will, and said that the video showed that Margaret could hardly flicker an eyelid 'when one of the witnesses began to read the content, adding that the pensioner did not read the document himself.
“She couldn't sign it herself because she was unable to hold the pen or move her hand to write her name,” she said.
“Lisa manipulated her hand and herself physically caused the hand of the deceased to move and make brands on the document.”
Repeatedly requested by Lisa or her witness if she was 'good' with the documents that were read to her, Margaret responded sporadically with a 'yes' or what the judge described as a 'UH' sound before Lisa continued to the signing phase of performing the will.
Then she secured her mother's signature by placing a pen in her hand and “moving her hand over the paper to make her characteristic signs.”
Referring to the video transcript, the judge noted: 'As he does this, Lisa tells the deceased:' Mama, do you agree with this? There is no response and Lisa says again to her mother – okay? And the deceased responds 'yes'. '
Margaret Baverstock died in March 2021, at what point she was described as so sick that she “could barely flicker an eyelid”
During the trial, Lisa had insisted that her mother was still mentally capable when she signed her will and refused to accept that she had dementia.
Although very weak, Margaret – who said Lisa, was 'died in her arms' – still able to take the world around her and enjoyed a 'smile and a joke'.
But it was stated that the documents were not performed correctly, the judge said: 'It is a common foundation that the deceased could not pick up the pen and put in her hand because of her contractions.
'Lisa Baverstock acted physically in her hand,' she told the court and added that Margaret's final signature 'does not drill a similarity' on an example of her authentic signature from 2017.
'I am convinced that the deceased had no idea what was going on. She was unable to act independently and although she responded with a 'yes' or even a growl when she was tackled as a mother, that was simply a response to immediately tackled and did not give permission to sign the will or to recognize its content.
'She looked completely empty while reading the will and at all except one occasion, she only responded to her daughter.
'At any time, Margaret Lisa asked for help with signing the will or giving her an order to sign the will on behalf of her. Nobody made sure she understood what happened by asking her questions about the content of the will or her to tell them her wishes, and she cannot be honestly said that she has signed the will. '
In addition to finding the fact that the will was not performed correctly, the judge discovered that Margaret was missing the necessary 'testamentary capacity' and did not 'know' the content of the will.
“The deceased was also extremely weak and on her deathbed. In these circumstances it was necessary to ask Margaret to guarantee her understanding.
“Only read the document and ask if she understood that it wasn't enough.”
Without another known will that exists, the judge ruled that Margaret Baverstock died 'Intestate', which means that brother and sister now have to split her £ 700,000 assets in the middle, although Lisa also has to pay the legal costs of John, estimated at a maximum of £ 80,000.
