Daughter forces mother's hand to sign over £700,000 estate

In March 2021, Lisa Baverstock drafted a homemade will for her 76 year old mother, Margaret Baverstock, to sign. The will named Lisa as Margaret’s sole executor and sole beneficiary of her £700,000 estate, leaving Lisa’s brother and Margaret’s only other child, John Baverstock, nothing from the estate.

A video, created by Lisa and produced to the court by her too, shows Lisa controlling her mother’s hand to make an X on the will. Margaret could barely make a noise, only responding with grunts to Lisa’s questions.

Margaret died 8 days after ‘executing’ the will.

John was left nothing from his mother’s estate and challenged the execution of the will in court on the basis that the will’s signing was “not the independent act of the deceased” and that his mother, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2014, was too mentally frail to understand what she was doing or signing.

John claimed in Court that Lisa had grown resentful towards him in the months leading up to his mother’s death and would not allow him into his mother’s house.

Ruling on the case, Judge Jane Evans-Gordon said she was satisfied that Margaret “had no idea what was going on” when singing the document. The Judge ruled “she (Margaret) could not sign it (the will) 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”.

“At no point did Margaret ask Lisa for help in singing the will or direct her to sign the will on her behalf.” Said Judge Evans-Gordon. “Nobody ensured that she understood what was happening by asking her questions about the contents of the will or asking her to tell them her wishes, and she cannot fairly be said to have signed the will”.

Judge Evans-Gordon also made reference to the fact that Margaret’s signature held no resemblance to an example of her authentic signature dating from 2017.

Throughout the trial Lisa maintained that her mother was mentally capable when she signed the will and refused to accept that Margaret had dementia.

As there was no other known will of Margaret’s, Judge Evans-Gordon declared the will as invalid and that Margaret had therefore died intestate. John was given half of his mother’s estate. Lisa was ordered to pay John’s legal fees which was estimated to be up to £80,000.

Our knowledgeable litigation team has experience acting for both Claimants and Defendants in Wills and Probate disputes. Whether you are looking to bring a dispute, or find yourself having to defend one, our solicitors are on hand to discuss your matter in detail.

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