Mr Winston Neville Wrangle v Mrs Marlene Alicia Brunt
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Master Teverson |
| Judgment Date | 06 July 2020 |
| Neutral Citation | [2020] EWHC 1784 (Ch) |
| Court | Chancery Division |
| Date | 06 July 2020 |
| Docket Number | Case No: PT-2018-000846 |
[2020] EWHC 1784 (Ch)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES
PROPERTY, TRUSTS AND PROBATE LIST (Ch)
IN THE ESTATE OF DEAN ASHLEY JAMES BRUNT DECEASED (PROBATE)
The Rolls Building
7 Rolls Buildings
Fetter Lane
London EC4A 1NL
Master Teverson
Case No: PT-2018-000846
Duncan Macpherson (instructed by Sillett Webb solicitors) for the Claimant
Sophia Rogers (instructed by Birkett Long Solicitors LLP) for the Defendants
Hearing dates: 17, 18 and 19 March 2020
Written closing submissions 25 March 2020
Approved Judgment
I direct that pursuant to CPR PD 39A para 6.1 no official shorthand note shall be taken of this Judgment and that copies of this version as handed down may be treated as authentic.
This is my reserved judgment following the trial of a probate claim. It relates to the estate of Dean Ashley James Brunt (“Dean”) who died on 8 December 2007 aged 35 in tragic circumstances. Dean was found dead on a railway line near Sawbridgeworth Station in Hertfordshire. He had stepped out onto a track in front of a train.
The Claimant, Mr Winston Neville Wrangle, was Dean's uncle by marriage. He was known as Bob. He was married until her death in 2010 to Dean's aunt, Valerie Wrangle. Valerie was the younger sister of Dean's mother Marlene Brunt who is the First Defendant to the claim. The Second Defendant, Dale Brunt, was Dean's elder brother.
Following Dean's death, and the inquest held into it, the First Defendant applied for and was granted letters of administration to Dean's estate on the basis that Dean had died intestate. Letters of administration were granted to the First Defendant on 25 July 2008.
By this probate claim issued on 8 November 2018, the Claimant seeks an order revoking the grant of letters of administration to the First Defendant on the grounds that Dean did not die intestate. The Claimant propounds two testamentary documents dated 2 March 1999. He claims these are valid duplicate wills.
The Defendants allege that these documents are forged. They claim that the documents were not executed in 1999 but were created several years after Dean's death. The Defendants invite the court to dismiss the probate claim on the grounds that the purported wills are invalid on grounds of (a) a forgery (b) want of due execution and (c) want of knowledge and approval.
The trial was listed for 8 days starting on 16 March 2019 with the first day allocated for judicial pre-reading. By the time the trial started, it was becoming apparent that lock-down restrictions could be introduced at any time. The Claimant is aged 80 and the First Defendant aged 82. The parties were agreed that they did not want the trial to be adjourned to a date to be fixed. In these exceptional circumstances, it was agreed that the oral evidence would be limited to the main witnesses and would be heard over 3 days. It was agreed that there was no need for the handwriting experts to be cross-examined. This meant that not all of the witnesses whose statements were before the court were cross-examined. I made it clear to the parties that I would take care to read all the statements and when reading the statements to take into account that their evidence had not been tested by cross-examination.
Family history and background
Dean was born on 17 April 1972, the middle of three children. His elder brother Dale, the Second Defendant, was born on 13 March 1970. His younger sister, Venetia, now Venetia Murray, was born on 31 October 1973. Dean's father was a successful jockey and trainer who was left unable to work by an accident in the late 1960's. He played no part in Dean's upbringing. The First Defendant (“Marlene”) was left to look after her three children and admits that she struggled to cope.
Dean was starved of oxygen at birth and it is thought because of this had learning difficulties and mental health issues in later life. Marlene's father, Arthur Nicholls, Dean's maternal grandfather, took an interest in Dean. According to the Marlene, Arthur was Dean's hero and Dean looked up to him.
In 1982, when she was 8 or 9 years old, Venetia went to live with her aunt Valerie and uncle Bob, the Claimant. Valerie and Bob lived at Howewood Farm, White Stubbs Lane, in Bayford, Hertfordshire. They had no children of their own. Marlene considers that her sister spoiled Venetia and as a result she became estranged from her mother. Dale and Dean were brought up by their mother and Arthur. Dean was the gentler of the two but had difficulty controlling his temper which got him into trouble. The relationship between Marlene and her children lacked maternal warmth and tenderness. For that, the three children turned to their aunt Valerie. Dean lived with Valerie and Bob when he was in trouble or felt the need for his aunt's attention.
Arthur lived at Ettridge i Farm, Pembridge Lane, Broxbourne. He had bought the Farm in 1946. Arthur was married first to Blanche Nicholls. They had five children; Gordon Nicholls, Trevor Nicholls, Marlene, Barry Nicholls and Valerie. Dean had a particular interest in machinery. He was persuaded by his grandfather to go to college to train as a mechanic. It was whilst Dean was at college, that Arthur died on 1 February 1990.
Arthur's first wife, Blanche, had died in 1979. Less than a year before his unexpected death, Arthur married Mary Witcher Nicholls (“Mary”) who had been his housekeeper.
Arthur's will
By clause 3 of his will dated 15 November 1989, Arthur left to his son Barry and his grandsons, Dale and Dean, and his granddaughter Venetia, in equal shares and contingent on their reaching 18, (a) his shares in A.H. Nicholls & Sons Limited, (b) the goodwill and assets of that business and (c) the land known as Calais Wood and the depot situate thereon. A.H. Nicholls & Sons Limited was a civil engineering and waste management company. Arthur's sons Gordon and Trevor ran it. Calais Wood was or had been a landfill site.
By clause 4 of his will, Arthur gave to his son Barry parcels of land totalling around 80 acres. Barry was the son principally interested in the farming business operated through Ettridge Farm Limited.
By clause 5, Arthur devised parcels of land totalling around 30 acres, including Ettridge Farm House, to his trustees upon trust to permit his wife Mary to reside in Ettridge Farm House and to have the use of the other parcels named in clause 5. Upon Mary's death, or her ceasing to reside in Ettridge Farm House, the clause 5 land was left by Arthur to his son Barry, his grandsons, Dale and Dean, and his granddaughter Venetia or such of them as should then be living in equal shares.
By clause 6 of his will, Arthur left the residue of his estate to his wife Mary. Arthur made no provision in his will for Marlene or Valerie. According to evidence filed by Gordon in proceedings relating to Arthur's estate in April 2002, this was because his father had begun a relationship with another lady after their mother's death of whom Marlene and Valerie had disapproved so strongly they had smashed the back door of Ettridge Farmhouse down and beaten up the lady concerned. Gordon did not mention in his evidence that Arthur's will also made no provision for him or Trevor.
At the time of Arthur's death, Dale was 19 and Dean 17. Following Arthur's death a long series of disputes arose concerning his estate. In May 1997, Dale, Dean and Venetia authorised Howard Day to act on their behalf in the matters concerning Arthur's estate. This was at Mary's suggestion. She had been introduced to Howard Day by Mick Keeble, the Farm Manager at Ettridge Farm.
Howard Day was at that time working as a consultant for a firm called ASA & Co. They described themselves as “Private and Corporate Advisors”. They had been assisting Mary since November 1994. ASA & Co provided litigation support and advice. They did so in return for a fee calculated as a percentage of the net gain or recovery. Howard Day was not a solicitor but was on occasions willing to let others think he was one.
The disputes concerning the administration of Arthur's estate involved virtually all its assets. Trevor, Gordon and Barry Nicholls were on one side and Dale, Dean and Venetia on the other, with support from Mary, Valerie and Marlene. Venetia was the least involved because in 1998 she moved to Canada. Her interests were looked after initially by Valerie to whom she had given a power of attorney on 22 October 1996. ii
According to the Claimant, Dean was deeply affected by the death of his grandfather in 1990 and by the bitter family disputes that followed and continued over the next 14 years.
Towards the end of 1998, Dean got into serious trouble with the Police. He was charged with assaulting four police officers and refusing to provide a sample. There was concern in the family that Dean might receive a prison sentence.
In 1997, Dean had appointed Dale as his attorney for the purposes of the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act 1985. In November 1998, Dale was replaced as Dean's attorney by Howard Day. This was, according to Dale, because Howard was assisting Dean in relation to the criminal prosecution and it was considered that Howard had more knowledge to deal with the court case and the Police.
On 11 November 1999, Dean pleaded guilty to the charges against him of assaulting a police officer. In December 1999, Dean received a 12 month ban on driving, put on probation for 12 months and ordered to pay prosecution costs. He avoided going to prison.
Dean's uncle Barry had sided with his brothers, Gordon and Trevor Nicholls, in connection with Arthur's will and the administration of his estate. Between them, they ran and...
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...is not the way that the will was executed and attested. 107 In light of the decisions cited by Master Teverson, in Wrangle v Brunt [2020] EWHC (Ch) 1784, at paragraph 144, including my own decision, in Wilson v Lassman [2017] EWHC 85 (Ch), I am disposed to agree with Mr East that, in this......
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...Trust Co Ltd [1992] 1 Ch 412, [1992] 2 WLR 496, [1992] 3 All ER 204, ChD 118, 119, 122 Wrangle v Brunt; sub nom Brunt (Deceased), Re [2020] EWHC 1784 (Ch), [2020] 7 WLUK 44 95, 96 Wren v Wren [2006] EWHC 2243 (Ch), [2007] WTLR 531, 9 ITELR 223, [2006] 3 FCR 18 108–109 Wright, Re; Kentfield ......
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Forgery
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