Father sued by daughter over late mothers estate

The following just goes to show that you need to be very specific in relation to the bequests made under your will, and that no matter how good the family relationships are before you pass away, a death in the family can bring about great rifts and set family members against each other.  Remember – the ones that will profit out of these situations are the lawyers!

An Isle of Wight woman is suing her father in the High Court for failing to maximise the proceeds of an estate for which he acted as executor and trustee.
The testator was Paula Beken, whose estate included a Georgian seaside house in Cowes. Mrs Beken's will left this property to be split equally between her son Dennis Gretton, her grandson Nicholas Gretton and her granddaughter Anna Marie Jeffery, subject to a life interest in favour of her husband Keith who was to be allowed to live in the house until his death.

Mrs Beken died in 2001 and her husband died in 2007. The house was duly sold the following year for GBP885,000 and the proceeds divided among the three legatees. However Mrs Jeffery then discovered that Keith Beken had executed a deed of variation in 2002 renouncing his life interest in the house.
Mrs Jeffery now claims her father Dennis Gretton, who was trustee of the property, could have sold or let it at that point, and that by not doing so he has lost the estate a considerable sum in potential rentals, as well as the property's loss of value due to the recent house price crash. She is asking the High Court to award her compensation of GBP165,000 against Mr. Gretton, including GBP30,00 for loss of rent and GBP91,000 for the reduced sale proceeds.

Article from the Daily Mail on 14th April 2010