Sharp v Adam
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | N. Strauss |
| Judgment Date | 27 July 2005 |
| Neutral Citation | [2005] EWHC 1806 (Ch) |
| Docket Number | Case No: HC 04C01001 |
| Court | Chancery Division |
| Date | 27 July 2005 |
[2005] EWHC 1806 (Ch)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
CHANCERY DIVISION
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Mr N. Strauss QC
(Sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge)
Case No: HC 04C01001
Mr. Gilead Cooper (instructed by Messrs. Greene & Greene) appeared for the claimants
Mr. Mark Simeon Jones (instructed by Messrs. Chua's.) appeared for the first and second defendants,
Mr. Andrew Child (instructed by Messrs. Edmondson Hall) appeared for the third and fourth defendants on 18th April 2005 only
Hearing dates: 18th-22nd and 25th April 2005
I direct pursuant to CPR PD39 para. 6 that no official shorthand note be taken of this judgment and that copies of this version as handed down may be treated as authentic.
Introduction
This is a claim for proof in solemn form of the will dated 1st June 2001 of the deceased, Mr. Neil Marshall Adam. Mr. Adam founded the Collin Stud, a well known racehorse stud situated in 250 acres in Newmarket, in 1982. He died on 21st August 2002, aged 70. For many years prior to his death, he had suffered from secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. At the time of the will he was paralysed and unable to speak. His instructions were given by responses to 'closed' questions put to him by his solicitor, Miss Anna Hall. She took instructions on 3 occasions, on 1st and 4th May and 1st June 2001, when the will was executed in her presence and in the presence of Dr. Anthony White, his doctor, who recorded his findings. The will was signed on his behalf by Mr. Melvyn Skelton, a very experienced solicitor who had been asked by Miss Hall to attend.
The claimants, Mr. Robin Sharp and Mr. Malcolm Bryson, who were respectively Mr. Adam's stud manager and assistant stud manager and stud groom, are the main beneficiaries of the will if it is upheld. The other main beneficiary is one of his carers, Mr. Kelly Neville, who looked after him from April 1998 and who is left a legacy of £25,000. The 1st and 2nd defendants are Mr. Adam's daughters. For brevity I will refer to them by their first names, Grace and Emma. They would not benefit under the will. They challenge its authenticity on the grounds of want of testamentary capacity and want of knowledge and approval. By their counterclaim, they seek proof in solemn form of an earlier will dated 6th February 1997 in their favour. There is no suggestion that anyone exercised undue influence on Mr. Adam at any stage.
The 3rd and 4th defendants, Miss Anna Hall and Mr. John Hancock, are the executors of the will. Miss Hall had been Mr. Adam's solicitor from 1988 onwards. Mr. Hancock was a long-standing friend. He receives a legacy of £4,000 under the will.
The 1st and 2nd defendants originally challenged the will on the additional ground of want of execution, on the basis of the evidence of one of the witnesses, Mrs. Sharon Clarke, but in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary this point was rightly not pursued.
Background facts
Mr. Adam was born on 28th March 1932. Until the early 1970s he was a veterinary surgeon. He then became a racehorse trainer. The most successful horse he trained was Gentilhombre, which won the Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp in two successive years, and also the July Cup at Newmarket. By all accounts, he was a forceful and forthright character, and remained so despite his disability. Without exception, he inspired affection and respect in all the witnesses who knew him, and he impressed Mr. Skelton who had not previously met him.
The first symptoms of Mr. Adam's disease appeared in 1974. He began to lose his mobility and his eyesight. Multiple sclerosis was diagnosed in 1983. Before then, his visual impairment had made racehorse training impossible and he bought the stud at Newmarket, which is situated some 3 miles from the racecourse, in 1980. It was then called the Aislabie Stud. Substantial restoration work was needed, and it was opened as the Collin Stud in 1982. Collin is his former wife's maiden name. It has 150 boxes and takes both boarding and walk-in mares. A new house was built on it for Mr. Adam in about 1995.
Mr. Adam's older daughter, Grace, was born on 3 rd April 1964. She is an artist and a lecturer and she organises artistic events. Mr. Adam was himself a talented amateur artist. Emma was born on 21 st May 1967 and is a qualified vet. Since 1998, she has been in the United States and is in the course of acquiring advanced specialist qualifications as a horse surgeon. I have no doubt, having heard their evidence, that they loved their father and were greatly distressed by his decline.
Mr. and Mrs. Adam's marriage ended acrimoniously in 1992. By this stage, Mr. Adam's illness had progressed considerably and his mobility, eyesight and speech were severely affected. In a letter he dictated at the time to one of his brothers, he refers to being in a wheelchair and unable to read. Mrs. Adam left the house over the August bank holiday weekend in 1992. Mr. Adam had an American friend called Charlene whom he had met in the 1980s, when he was still able to go to racing events in the United States. He was clearly very fond of her, although they were never lovers. Some time later in 1992, Mrs. Adam and Emma came to the house and found that Charlene was there, and was in Mrs. Adam's bedroom. There was an angry scene. Charlene continued to make occasional trips to England to see Mr. Adam until about 2000.
The 1st claimant, Robin Sharp, was born on 10 th August 1960. His mother trained point to point horses in Leicestershire and he began to ride racehorses when he was still at school. His first job was as a stable lad for Mr. Adam when he was still a racehorse trainer. This was in 1975 and he stayed with him until his death. The 2nd claimant, Malcolm Bryson, was born on 3 rd November 1965, and began to work for Mr. Adam in January 1982, when he was 16 years old. He also stayed with Mr. Adam until his death. I have no doubt, having heard their evidence, that they had great respect and affection for Mr. Adam, and were completely loyal to him.
Shortly after Mrs. Adam left, Mrs. Nicky Blaikie was employed as a carer, first part-time and then full-time. She moved in with her family and stayed until about 1997. Mr. Adam's physical condition deteriorated steadily. In May 1993 he executed an enduring power of attorney; by this time his signature was virtually illegible. By the time of Emma's graduation in the same year, his speech was limited to 'yes' and 'no'. Attendance notes made by Miss Hall in October 1993 recorded that he could neither speak nor read, although he was still able to go out in a wheelchair to attend sales.
Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease, which progresses insidiously over one or two decades. In 1994, Mr. Adam was in hospital with pneumonia and for a time seemed likely to die. He recovered, but soon afterwards lost the power of speech altogether, and his eyesight and mobility gradually deteriorated further. He became completely paralysed and in the end could not use his arms, so that his only means of communication was by movements of the head and of the eyes. He also suffered from painful muscle spasms and recurrent chest infections. From 1994 he suffered from bulbar palsy and eventually, by about the year 2000, became unable to swallow even liquid food. There is evidence that on occasion he became very emotional.
In August/September 1996, Mr. Adam had a MRI scan in Germany which revealed widespread damage to the brain of a kind which, it is common ground between the expert witnesses, was likely to affect concentration and judgment and produce unstable emotions and was also likely to deteriorate. However, no psychiatrically abnormal thought processes were observed at the time. When Mr. Adam saw Dr. P.R. Hughes, a pain management specialist, in 1997, Dr. Hughes noted that Mr. Adam could understand all that was said and that clear face to face communication was possible. The evidence establishes that, in relation to a variety of matters, this remained the position until at least the date on which the will was executed, 1st June 2001.
Between 1994 and 1996, Mr. Adam's nephew, Robert Adam, was employed to manage the stud. He was paid £30,000 p.a. for a 3 day week. It was then discovered that he had defrauded his uncle and he was prosecuted. He eventually pleaded guilty to 12 offences in 1998 and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. The money was repaid by his father, Mr. Adam's brother.
After Robert Adam left, Mr. Sharp was promoted from stud groom to manager and Mr. Bryson to stud groom. There were discussions with the bank involving Mr. Hancock, and the overdraft facilities were converted into a mortgage loan. The bank kept a close eye on the business for a time with weekly meetings, but as matters improved these became monthly and then quarterly. Mr. Sharp and Mr. Hancock went to the meetings, but Mr. Adam did not. No detailed evidence was given as to the stud's finances, but it is clear that Mr. Sharp's management of its affairs was a great success. The mortgage interest was paid, and the indebtedness was gradually reduced from a peak of some £600,000 to £360,000 at the time of Mr. Adam's death. At the same time, sufficient income was generated to cover Mr. Adam's full-time care, which cost about £100,000 p.a.
According to Mr. Sharp, both he and Mr. Bryson were paid less than the going rate. In his own case, elsewhere he would have commanded a better salary than the £25,000 he was paid, as well as a house on the estate and a car. In Mr. Bryson's case, he could have expected a salary of £25,000 as opposed to the £16,000 to £18,000 which he was paid. Miss Hall's evidence provided some support for...
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