Woman, 98, leaves fortune to
window cleaner - not nephew Julie Spalding, who died in September 2008, cut out
her relative Cecil Bray in favour of the labourer Albert
Pearce (pictured) who she named as her sole heir Picture: Nevile Ayling Twitter Facebook Share Julie Spalding, who died in September 2008, cut out
her relative Cecil Bray in favour of her window cleaner
Albert Pearce A 98-year-old woman left her entire £300,000 fortune
to a window cleaner, sparking a legal challenge by her
“favourite nephew”, the High Court has heard. Julie Spalding, who died in September 2008, cut out
her relative Cecil Bray in favour of the labourer Albert
Pearce, who she named as her sole ....Mrs Spalding, who was described as "spirited but
stubborn", had drawn up previous wills that left the
bulk of her estate to Mr Bray, 82, his barrister
Constance McDonnell told the court. The pair had a long-established understanding that he
would inherit her fortune, the lawyer said, as Mr Bray
had sacrificed much of his free time to "devote
himself to her needs". However, in 2005, Mrs Spalding suffered a major
personality change after a fall, and "excommunicated
Mr Bray from her life" leaving him with no option but
to stay away, Miss McDonnell said. The court heard Mr Bray was given his "marching
orders" during a visit to his aunt's home in Hendon,
north London, during which he met Mr Pearce for the
first and only time. Later that year Mrs Spalding "radically changed her
testamentary instructions" by telling her solicitors that
she wished to leave her home to Mr Pearce, who she
said she had known for 30 years. The court heard Mrs Spalding, who was twice married
but childless, was notoriously "obsessed" with her
will, and signed three successive documents between
2005 and December 2007 - with Mr Pearce named as
"sole beneficiary" in the final one. The case reached court with Mr Bray challenging the
validity of his aunt's last three wills on the grounds
that she either lacked legal "capacity" to make them -
or that Mr Pearce "procured each of the disputed wills
by undue influence". Mrs Spalding's estate consisted of about £60,000 in
cash, plus a bungalow in Great North Way, Hendon. Outside court Mr Pearce said he had always done his
best to care for Mrs Spalding, who he described as
"cantankerous but fun". "I was never interested in her money," he added. Mr Pearce insisted he had stepped into the breach
after Mrs Spalding's family failed to keep in touch
with her between 2005 and her death. But Mr Bray said he had visited his aunt up to four
times a week before she turned him out in 2005 and
had wrongly assumed she would apologise for her
outburst. Miss McDonnell said Mrs Spalding was becoming
increasingly frail and vulnerable by 2007, with medics
having diagnosed a possible "paranoid" condition. She also said there was "circumstantial evidence"
supporting the undue influence claim against Mr
Pearce. "He appears to have been the only person who had
any kind of regular contact with Mrs Spalding from
mid-2005 onwards - to the exclusion of any carers",
she argued. "He exhibited a controlling attitude and a desire to
exclude external assessment of Mrs Spalding." Judge Murray Rosen QC reserved his ruling at the
end of the two-day case.