Inheritance disputes: Why a Will challenged without evidence was given short shrift by the courts

A man who changed his Will to leave his valuable stamp collection to his cleaner and just £1 to his ‘vengeful’ stepdaughter knew exactly what he was doing and why, a County Court judge has ruled.

Beverley Neate, Mr Watt’s stepdaughter, contested his 2019 Will and 2020 explanatory codicil on the grounds that due to age and ill health, he neither knew about nor approved the alterations.

However, the court heard that this was far from the case with meticulous records, a professionally drawn Will and ‘actual evidence’ of the reasoning behind Mr Watt’s decision all proving the opposite.

As a result, costs were awarded against Mr Watt’s stepdaughter.

The case is an important one in highlighting that simply thinking you know best what the testator (the person who made the Will) wanted is not enough to mount a ‘speculative’ legal challenge to its validity without sufficient evidence.

What happened in this inheritance dispute?

Ray Watts first met Susan Pope in 2011 when she came to work for him. Over the years, she became much more than a cleaner, sharing with him a love of stamp collecting including travelling together to stamp fairs all over the country.

As he became older and unwell, she helped him with day-to-day tasks, medical appointments and visited him in hospital becoming, in Judge Gerald’s words, the ‘single biggest constant’ in his life.

In 2007, Mr Watts had made a Will leaving his estate equally to his three children and three stepchildren.

However, in 2019, he made a new Will leaving the bulk of his £250,000 estate to Susan as a thank you for her support and friendship. He also gave her his stamp collection for £1 and reduced the legacy to each of his biological children and Beverley to £15,000 each.

At around this time, the court was told, Beverley began acting in ways he found “disrespectful and distressing”. This included going into his home while he was ill in hospital and hiring a locksmith to change the locks without telling him.

As a result, Mr Watts added the 2020 codicil to amend his 2019 Will and reduce Beverley’s legacy from £15,000 to £1. He also made a detailed witness statement explaining his reasoning and setting out how much Beverley’s behaviour had upset him.

How did the court settle this inheritance dispute?

Judge Gerald, after a four-day hearing, dismissed Beverley’s claims – she wanted the 2007 Will reinstated – and confirmed the validity of Mr Watt’s 2019 Will as modified by the codicil dated November 2020.

He upheld Mr Watt’s wishes to make Susan the main beneficiary of his estate and leave £15,000 to his biological children – none of whom contested his Will – and £1 to Beverley.

Describing her behaviour as ‘vengeful’ and ordering her to pay costs, Judge Gerald said: “It is appropriate for the court to make a [punitive] costs order in order to indicate its disapproval of the use of the courts in circumstances where there really is no evidence.”

Get in touch

If you want to contest or defend a Will, please contact Wards Solicitors’ Contentious Trusts and Probate Team.

Our lawyers are members of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS), the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE) and the Law Society’s Probate Panel. All demand an elevated level of expertise and up to date knowledge from their members.

Wards Solicitors has recently been named Regional Law Firm of the Year by Bristol Law Society and our Wills, Probate and Mental Capacity team has scooped the Devon and Somerset Law Society’s Private Client Team of the Year.

We are also praised by the Legal 500 Guide 2025 for our extensive probate disputes presence across the South West advising on contentious estate administration matters, Court of Protection issues and challenges to the validity of Wills with a large roster of clients.

Elizabeth Fry is highlighted as a key lawyer, praised for her ‘diligent and thorough' approach to a wide range of disputes related to mental capacity issues, as well as in claims under the Inheritance Act 1975.

• Instructing specialist solicitors when making or updating your Will is the best way to ensure it is safe and effective. Contact our Wills and Mental Capacity Team for more information.