Home | News | ‘Unwanted’ son claims share of late father’s estate from niece 

‘Unwanted’ son claims share of late father’s estate from niece 

April 21st 2022
 

The son of a car and property magnate has successfully sued his niece to gain a share of his late father’s estate and avoid becoming homeless. 

Stephanie Johnson Senior Associate Solicitor reports on this recent case.

Colin Johnston was the son of Sidney Johnston, who died in 2017 leaving a £2.4 million estate to Colin’s niece, Lady Natalie Wackett. 

The father and son had fallen out in 1992 after a breakdown of their business partnership. 

Colin challenged the will, stating that he was financially dependent on receiving a pay-out from his late father’s estate. 

A judge ruled in 2019 that Colin should receive a £175,000 lump sum, adding that the father’s decision to omit his son from his will was “inexplicable”. 

Lady Wackett claimed that the sum should be significantly reduced because Colin had debts to his father amounting to around £100,000 from the time of the breakdown of their business relationship. 

Colin argued that any reduction to his share of the estate could result in him being made homeless. 

He also told the court that his parents had always held a resentment towards him, after he was conceived during the Second World War while his father was serving in the RAF. 

He claimed his mother had told him from a young age that: “I would have been a Hollywood star if it wasn’t for you.” 

The parents always favoured his siblings according to Colin and bought manorial titles for all of them except him. 

Lady Wackett claimed Colin deserved nothing from the estate after he ungratefully turned his back on his parents years ago. 

The judge ruled in favour of Colin Johnston. 

He noted that Lady Wackett had been an “honest and truthful witness” but she also exhibited a “great deal of hostility towards Colin”. 

Previous court hearings had settled that there was nothing owed to his father by Colin from the breakdown of their business relationship. Therefore, it would be unfair to reduce his share of the family estate now. 

Lady Wackett was ordered to pay Colin the full £175,000 from the inheritance. 

If you would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of contentious probate, please contact the team on 01228 516666 or click here to send an email.

Share on Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
Book your FREE 30 minute consultation now
This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. We use necessary cookies to make sure that our website works. We’d also like to set analytics cookies that help us make improvements by measuring how you use the site. By clicking “Allow All”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
These cookies are required for basic functionalities such as accessing secure areas of the website, remembering previous actions and facilitating the proper display of the website. Necessary cookies are often exempt from requiring user consent as they do not collect personal data and are crucial for the website to perform its core functions.
A “preferences” cookie is used to remember user preferences and settings on a website. These cookies enhance the user experience by allowing the website to remember choices such as language preferences, font size, layout customization, and other similar settings. Preference cookies are not strictly necessary for the basic functioning of the website but contribute to a more personalised and convenient browsing experience for users.
A “statistics” cookie typically refers to cookies that are used to collect anonymous data about how visitors interact with a website. These cookies help website owners understand how users navigate their site, which pages are most frequently visited, how long users spend on each page, and similar metrics. The data collected by statistics cookies is aggregated and anonymized, meaning it does not contain personally identifiable information (PII).
Marketing cookies are used to track user behaviour across websites, allowing advertisers to deliver targeted advertisements based on the user’s interests and preferences. These cookies collect data such as browsing history and interactions with ads to create user profiles. While essential for effective online advertising, obtaining user consent is crucial to comply with privacy regulations.