Christopher Richard Lattimer v Maria Karamanoli
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Master Clark |
| Judgment Date | 23 June 2023 |
| Neutral Citation | [2023] EWHC 1524 (Ch) |
| Court | Chancery Division |
| Docket Number | Case No: PT-2021-001103 |
[2023] EWHC 1524 (Ch)
Master Clark
Case No: PT-2021-001103
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES
PROPERTY TRUSTS AND PROBATE LIST (ChD)
Royal Courts of Justice, Rolls Building
Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1NL
Thomas Entwistle (instructed by Hugh James) for the Claimant
Alper Riza KC and James McKean (instructed by Rothley Law) for the Defendant
Hearing date: 1 June 2023
Approved Judgment
I direct that this approved judgment, sent to the parties by email at 10am on 23 June 2023, shall deemed to be handed down on that date, and copies of this version as handed down may be treated as authentic.
This is my judgment on 2 applications:
(1) the claimant's application dated 3 February 2023 seeking summary judgment on part of his claim; and reverse summary judgment and/or to strike out the defendant's counterclaim insofar as it seeks rectification;
(2) the defendant's application dated 24 May 2023 seeking permission to amend her defence and counterclaim.
Parties and the factual background
The claim concerns the estate of Evi Kalodiki (“ the testator”), who died on 31 December 2018 aged 62 in the St John Hospice in London.
The claimant, Christopher Lattimer, claims as the husband of the testator, and sole beneficiary under the intestacy he claims arises as a result of her will dated 27 December 2018 (“ the Will”) being revoked by her marriage to him on 28 December 2018.
The defendant, Maria Karamanoli, is the sister of the testator, and named as a beneficiary in the Will.
The total value of the testator's estate is about £10 million, of which about £3 million is land and money in bank accounts in England, and the remainder is land, money and shares in the Republic of Cyprus and Greece.
The key events giving rise to the claim took place over less than 2 weeks. On 17 December 2018, the testator was admitted on an emergency basis to the hospice. She was terminally ill with lung cancer. The hospice notes record her saying that she lived alone and had no partner. The claimant, who accompanied her on her admission was described by her as:
• “close friend”
• “friend (former student)”
• “friend, sometimes stays with [the testator]”
The claimant was also recorded by the hospice as being “NOK”, which I assume means “next of kin”.
On 24 December 2018, the testator left the hospice on a temporary basis to spend Christmas with the claimant and his family in Croydon.
On 27 December 2018, the claimant drove the testator back to the hospice. The claimant's evidence is that on the drive back, she looked terrible, and he became concerned that her time was short. He continues:
“I also told her that it would be irresponsible and unkind of her to let her ( sic) die and leave me all alone and unsupported to face her family. Evi interjected and stated “Are you asking me to marry you?” At this point I said that this was not what I meant but I agreed to the marriage which Evi took as a proposal by me.”
The claimant says that the testator, whose faith was Greek Orthodox, then contacted her long time confidant and friend, Father Damian Konstantinou 1; and that he arranged a Greek Orthodox ceremony later that day in the chapel of the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth. The claimant says he also spoke to Father Damian and “helped.”
The claimant's evidence is that also on the same day, though it is unclear when, Father Damian raised the matter of the Will:
“43. … he said to me “You must write a Will, there is not much time”. I said: “Do I need special headed Hospice paper” and proceeded to write on an available sheet of paper. I then said: “What should I say?” and Father Damian started to dictate the terms of the Will.
44. The Will was handwritten by me again on that same day, 27.12.2018. The Will was a collaboration between Father Damian and Evi, and I wrote down how Evi told me that she wished her estate to be distributed. My role was secretarial. Evi checked the draft of the Will carefully and stated “4% to lawyers is too much”. She then said: “1/6 for [me] is about right because you were with me for a decade”. Evi named Pavlos as executor and provided information with additional details of the recipients.”
The doctor on duty at the hospice that day, Dr O'Hanlon, records in his notes that on the testator's return to the hospice, she announced to him her engagement plans with the claimant. He also records that she asked him for a written statement of her capacity for decision making; and that he responded by saying that he could issue a letter as to her capacity for medical decision making, but legal decision making should be assessed by a solicitor. He records that she appeared to be dying. On the same date, Dr O'Hanlon signed a letter setting out that at the time of writing the letter, the testator had full capacity for medical decision making.
The Will was executed on 27 December 2018. The witnesses were Father Damian and a witness arranged by him called Iosif Charalambos. At the testator's request, a photograph was taken of her signing the Will. After setting out that it is prepared at the hospice, it continues:
“The details are overleaf where my wish is for my estate to be divided into six equal parts to six beneficiaries.
This is my last and only will. The remaining 4% is for legal fees, funeral costs and execution of the will.”
The 6 beneficiaries named in the Will, each receiving 16%, are the claimant, the defendant, her 2 daughters and one son, and an organisation called the Sarantaris Society.
In the evening of 27 December, at about 8pm, the claimant and the testator were married in a religious ceremony by Father Damian. The witnesses at that ceremony were the two people who witnessed the execution of the Will.
The claimant's evidence is that on the following day, 28 December 2018,
“45. … Evi first mentioned her wish to “legalise the marriage”, to use her words, by way of a formal civil ceremony. In truth, this came as quite a surprise to me but Evi was characteristically very insistent on this.”
The hospice notes for 28 December 2018 record the testator as saying “Feels she will now die as is married and once seen solicitor will be ready”, and under the heading “Plans”, “Solicitor to see this afternoon”. No solicitor did in fact attend.
At 11.28 on 28 December 2018, Westminster Register Office sent an email to the testator's email address, intended to be copied to the claimant (but his name is misspelt in the email address used), stating:
“Dear Ms Kalodiki and Mr Lattimer,
Please see attached for the letter which the doctor will need to write and sign before we go ahead with the ceremony.”
The attachment to this email was not in evidence, but the clear inference to be drawn is that it was the template for the letter on the hospice's note paper dated 28 December 2018 signed by Dr Marilina Monti stating (amongst other things) that the testator “understands the nature and purport of the marriage ceremony”. Dr Monti describes herself as “Registrar to Dr Edith Israel (Consultant in Palliative Medicine); and the hospice notes record Dr Israel seeing the testator at 15.30 on her ward round on 28 December.
The civil marriage ceremony took place on 28 December. The defendant was one of the 2 witnesses to the marriage. There is no suggestion that she objected at the time to the marriage taking place.
On 30 December 2018, an email from the testator's email account (and apparently written by her) was sent to 2 of her contacts at Loyola University:
“You are the first to know after Maria and the children that on Dec the 27 th 2018 Chris proposed to me, he converted to Christian Orthodox and we got married in a religious ceremony & on the 28-12-18 we had a legal ceremony at St John & Liz's hospice.
…
Thank God my brain is fine. However, the shortage of breath is severe.
…
Kind regards
Evi Kalodiki-Lattimer”
By 31 December 2018, the testator had severely deteriorated, and she died later that day.
Procedural background
On 11 August 2021, the defendant made an application in the Central Family Court under s.55 of the Family Law Act 1986 (claim no. ZC21D00029 – “the Family Claim”). The application notice (prescribed form D70) is headed “Application for declaration of marital/civil partnership status”. There is no space on the form for stating the declaration sought. However, the stated grounds for the application include an allegation that the marriage was not valid under s.3 of the Marriage (Registrar General's Licence) Act 1970.
The claimant's acknowledgment of service in the Family Claim seeks:
(1) a declaration that the marriage was at its inception valid;
(2) a declaration that the marriage subsisted when the testator died;
(3) a declaration that the testator died domiciled in England and Wales;
(4) a declaration that the testator died intestate;
(5) a declaration that the claimant is entitled to the whole of the testator's estate;
(6) an order that letters of administration in the testator's estate be granted to him.
This claim was issued on 23 December 2021.
The relief sought in the claim form is:
(1) a declaration that the testator died intestate;
(2) a declaration that the claimant is solely entitled to her estate in England and Wales, and to her moveable assets worldwide;
(3) a grant of letters of administration to her estate.
On 4 January 2022, HHJ Evans-Gordon made an order transferring the Family Claim to the Business and Property Courts, to be heard and case managed with this claim.
There was a case management conference before Deputy Master McQuail on 22 June 2022, at which directions to trial were given. Disclosure and exchange of witness statements have taken place. The claim is therefore...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Revocation Of A Will By Marriage ' Lattimer v Karamanoli
...one day before a marriage be revoked by that same marriage? We take a look at this interesting recent case. LATTIMER V KARAMANOLI [2023] EWHC 1524 (CH) Evi Kalodiki, a former surgeon, was terminally ill with cancer when she decided to marry her partner, Dr Evi had asked her friend to arrang......