WILL IN DISPUTE

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 44, 30 August 1928, Page 20

WILL IN DISPUTE

ESTATE OF £50,000 PARTIES COME TO TERMS A LEEDS 'MNKEII (From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, 27th Juno. A will case of interest to a Now Zealand family was hoard before Mr. Justice Hill and a special jury in the Probate Division. This action concerned the estate of a. banker, Mr. Charles Joseph Brown, of Beech Hill, Newport, Siilop, who died on 4th Juno, 1927. His housekeeper, Miss Amy Hannah Auscll, of Beech Hill, propounded a will dated 12th May, 1927, under which sho was executrix ami was bequeathed the bulk of the estate. iFor the defence it waa alleged that that will was uot properly executed, as at the^ time Mr. Brown was not of sound mind, and a will of Oth January, 1927, was put forward by Mr.. Clao I'ordham Harries, of Newport, and Mrs. Arabella Mary Burgess, of The Knoll, Newport, as executors, and by four children, of a brother. Mr. J. G. Hurst, K.C., for Miss Ansell, said the question for the jury ■was whether Mr. Brown really knew what ho was doing when he executed the- later .will. The defendants, said that lie did not. The real cause of the trouble was that some time- iv January last year, in consequence- of worry and'anxiety, he had a mental breakdown., Miss Ansoll said he had fully recovered at the timo ho made the second will, but tho defendants said that ho had not—that ho suffered from senile dementia until 4th February, 1927, and that at the timo of tho second will he was garrulous, suspicious, and suffered-from delusions. NEW ZEALAND DEFENDANTS. Mr. Brown, who at the time was 78 years of age, added counsel, was of Yorkshire descent, and his family for many years carried on a privato bank under the name of Brown and Company of Leeds, which in 1910 was absorbed by Lloyd's Bank. Ho was a man of independent means living the life of a country gentleman. When ho was '42 ho married a widow, Mrs. Ada Dew, who had one daughter by a former marriage, but there were no children by her marriage'with "Mr. Brown. His wife survived him, but she was iusauo and had since died, and his only J relatives wor four married sisters, members of tho Roman Catholic Church, and a brother,' the father of four of the defendants, who were in New Zealand. ; '. i Counsel went on to say that Mr. ! Brown was hot-tempered and unreasonable, and difficult to get on with. About 1912 he acquired a residence at Castle AVigg, "Wigtonshire, and while there his wife°s mind gave- signs of giving way. Another matter that gave him great , trouble was an infatuation by his stepdaughter for his chauffeur. That came, to an end, but it occasioned Mr. Brown great trouble. Miss Ansell was en-aged-as companion-housekeeper in the family in 1914, and in course -of time was treated more like a daughter than an employee. TROUBLESOME YEARS. Mr. Brown; made a considerable number of wills and codicils. In ono in 1918 he gave everything to his stepdaughter, but three, months later he deprived her of everything. Perhaps that !w,as becauso-of her infatuation and boeauso sho had loft homo to go in for

nursing. In 1920 he set asido property to provide her with £1000 it year, but in 1021 ho .declared that sho must forfeit everything if she married the chauffeur. In :i92j), when lie found that his stepdaughter had taken to dl-ink, ho decided to take both her and his wife- to new surroundings, and acquired Beech llillj Newport. His hopes for better conditions, however, wcro unfulfilled, for his. stop-daughter had to be removed to a home for inebriates, and his Vvif'o was taken to a mental asylum. • In the will of; January, 1927, Mr. Brown gave £300 to Mrs. Burgess, his personal effects, and an annuity of ,£2OO lo his- step-daughter, who had since died, legacies to various servants, and his residence to his wife and stepdaughter for life, after which the estate- was to go to his Now Zealand relatives. Later in the year his mind gave way, and ho had delusions that tho police were in the house, that Bolsheviks wcro ■in the garden, and that people were trying to rob him. His neighbour, Mr. Burgess, was appointed receiver of his estate, but when Mr. Brown began to recover, that appointment was discharged. As his mind improved his thoughts again turned to Miss Ansell. , After the death of his step-daughter in January, 1927, ho wrote to Miss Ansell, who at that time had set up in business, and asked her to return to his house as housekeeper. In a letter to his sister, iv regard to tho death of his'step-daughter, lie- wrote: "Her death was a great blow to mo. They tried to provent mo getting to her when she was ill, but I knocked them down and got to her, and sat several hours at the foot of the bed with her hand in mine." FOLLY OF LITIGATION. "Mr. Brown entirely recovered from his temporary insanity," said Mr. Hurst, who road letters written by Mr. Brown making allegations against Mr. Burgess, Mr. Harriss, and others who had looked after his affairs during his illness. Those letters, though unreasonable, did not indicate any mental defect, Mr. Justice Hill: " What is tho. value of tho estate?" Mr. Hurst: "£50,000." ' Mr. Justice. Hill: "How much do you expect will be consumed in the litigation'?" . , Mr. Hurst: "I am sorry any of it is necessary." Mr. Justice Hill: "I only ask. because I am always anxious to get people to put their heads together. Of all tfc . foolish ways of wasting money, litig nin connection with a~will is the worst. The lawyers get' the best of it." SETTLEMENT REACHED. Mr. Hurst, concluding his address to the jury, read letters written by the testator after his recovery, venting his exasperation i.t his neighbour, Mr. Burgess, and his solicitor, Mr. Harriss, hayin ■ taken over the management of his affairs. He (counsel) did not suggest that the testator had any .justification for his feeli of resentment, and it was only fair to say that Mr. Harriss's firm wrote at tho time to the testator's new solicitors suggesting that his mmd1 had been prejudiced by, certain accounts of what had; been done during his breakdown;1 "•he testator gave Mr. Middle, his new solicitor, full instructions for the will of 12th May, 1927, the latter drawing attention to the relatives, who figured lin previous wills, but not in the last will. By that1 instrument the testator made Miss Ausell sole executrix, direefcj ing that she should make necessary provision for his widow (now dead); gave annuities of £100 and £50 a year, free of duty, respectively, to his former head keeper, Hugh MacCutcheon, and 'the lat+or's son; and left legacies of £3000, free of duty, to Dr. .William Griffiths, £100 to Mr. Timothy Collins,

male nurse, of Brunswick .street, Manchester, £100 to Mr. Bertie Agates, motor proprietor, of Newport, Shropshire, £50 to his gardener, Mr. Walter Child, and £30 each to his servants of three years' service. The residue was left to Mi.s Ansell. At that stage a settlement was reached, and the jury were discharged. A JUST ARRANGEMENT. In reply to Sir Patrick Hastings, Mr. Hurst reiterated that he. had not associated himself with tho unjust criticism of Mr. Burgess and Mr. Harriss contained in the testator's letters. The following terms of settlement were made a rule of Court: —The will of May, 1927, was to be admitted to probaJ the plaintiff to renounce probate, and letters of administration, with the will annexed, to be granted to Lloyd's Bank. Dr. Griffiths agreed to accept £1500 instead of £3000, and Mrs. Burgess, the executrix of the January will, was to receive £150. The other legacies wore to.be paid, together with the costs of all parties. Of the residue, one-half would go to the plaintiff and tho other,half to the four d' nd ..its -Brown, each share bearing it's own duty. , :#.' -.- Mr. Rowland Pembcrton Liddlo, solicitor, of Newport, Shropshire, gave evidence of the due execution of the will of May, 1927. ■':' ; Mr. Justice Hi|l,: in pronouncing for the will of May, 1927, said that the parties 'ad come to a very wise conclusion. It was quite -obvious from the correspondence that there would have been a., great deal to bo said on both sides. The terms seemed to be a very just arrangement.