The family and cleaning lady of an ‘unbearable’ millionairess are locked in a bitter court fight over her £1.3million fortune.
Stepdaughter Anna St Clair, nephew Nick King and housemaid June Farrell are all battling for a share of eccentric widow Jean Lech’s will.
Mrs Lech had cut Ms St Clair out of the will when she died in 2012 and instead gave £10,000 to Ms Farrell, some to her children and the rest to Mr King.
However, Ms. St Clair (72) claims that her stepmother wasn’t of sound mind when she altered the document, and has asked for it to be declared null.
The counsellor cited an incident where the elderly woman threw a roast turkey through a plate glass window on Christmas Day after a minor row.
Ms. St Clair asserts that Mrs Lech (her father’s third husband) would steal the cats from her neighbor’s homes and then refuse to hand them back.
Anna St Clair’s stepdaughter, Nick King (pictured), and June Farrell (pictured), are all fighting to get a piece of Jean Lech’s will.
She was the primary beneficiary of her stepmother’s will from 2007; however, it left nothing for her in a subsequent one in May 2009.
The revised document left £10,000 to Ms Farrell as well as similar gifts to the cleaner’s two children, and the rest to her nephew Mr King.
Even though she had just recently established a connection to her relative, this was in spite of the fact that millionaires died before it became public.
Ms St Clair is claiming Ms Farrell ‘poisoned’ her stepmother’s mind against her so she and Mr King could share her fortune.
However, Mr King and the cleaner refute all of the allegations and claim Mrs Lech knew exactly what she was doing when the will was changed.
London’s High Court heard she left behind her half of a £2.5million house in Streatham, in the south of the capital, when she died aged 79.
The house was co-owned by her and Zbigniew Lech, who were Ms St Clair’s parents. She died in 2008 at the age of 101.
With the condition that his widow be allowed to remain there till her death, he had given his share of the house to Ms St Clair (and Carmen), and left the other half to Carmen.
Mrs Lech had cut Ms St Clair out of the will when she died in 2012 and instead gave £10,000 to Ms Farrell, some to her children and the rest to Mr King (pictured)
Ms. St Clair said that her stepmother, who was known for being a bad temper, told the court she believed she suffered from an antisocial personality disorder.
She said this combined with her being ill when she made her last will should see it invalidated.
She stated that she did not display the thinking style of an adult mature, but of a child petulant.
Judge Mark Cawson, QC was told by Ms. St Clair that she did the washing on Christmas day.
“My father commented on her wasteful use of hot water. The roast turkey was thrown through the window by her, breaking glass everywhere.
“That day, there was no celebration dinner. Jean had a habit of lured neighbour cats away by offering fresh fish to them.
“On one occasion, one neighbor came to visit his cat. When it looked like the cat might not return, one neighbor came to visit and said “Well you better be careful because I’m a big-bad lawyer.”
‘Jean instantly retorted: ‘And I’m a f***ing b**ch now get out’. The poor man didn’t get his cat back.
Ms. St Clair also stated, “She shouted at me that I was poisoning my plants. I was really just watering them.” It was outrageous and bizarre.
She was pleasant when she wasn’t drunk. But when she got drunk it became too much. My father tolerated what few men would accept.
“She could be very fun, but she was very hurt.” “She wasn’t only awful,” Ms. St Clair said to the judge.
“I think that, if she presented evidence about her behavior to a psychiatrist they would not hesitate to diagnose her with antisocial personality disorder.
She was getting more and more angry towards the end. Her defense has classified her as an intelligent and responsible adult.
She was not able to speak, and could not be considered as free from mental disorders. Paranoid delusions were causing her paranoia. She lost her sense of right due to the disorder.
Jean also claimed that she was ‘bedridden, terminally sick, and bereaved’ at the time of making her will.
Ms. St Clair also asserts a claim for ‘fraudulent almny’, arguing that cleaner Ms Farrell manipulated Ms. St Clair into removing her from the will.
“She maligned my with the intention to replace me in testator’s affections,” she stated, accusing Ms Farrell a “sustained campaign of maligning and discrediting me.”
Mrs Lech and Ms Farrell had been overheard ‘talking obsessively about my stepmother’s estate and her will for hours and hours,’ she claimed, accusing the cleaner of ‘protracted scheming’.
The judge was shocked when she said that June had been there 23 years waiting and watching for the right moment.
She said that Ms Farrell was in a relationship with Mr King and they had planned to jointly inherit Jean’s wealth.
“There was an intimate personal relationship between Mr King and Ms Farrell,” she said.
London’s High Court heard she left behind her half of a £2.5million house in Streatham (pictured), in the south of the capital, when she died aged 79
“It was Jean Farrell that brought Mr King to Jean’s home on the couple or three occasions he visited.
The defendants shared lunches and at times sat together whispering.
“Mr King had made marriage promises to Ms Farrell and accordingly, she expected to be a part of Jean’s success under Jean’s will.
The final argument of Ms. St Clair was that Mrs Lech promised her a “constructive trust” to her father prior to his death and she wouldn’t revoke the will.
In 2007, her will left 2/3 of her estate to her step-daughter, and 1/3 to Carmen St Clair.
Ms. St Clair stated that she betrayed her promise of not revoking it after he passed away.
Jean had no other reason to change her mind so she resigned and sacked Carmen and claimant.
Jean had never been in a close family or with any other person she could have a close relationship.
She continued: “In particular Jean was not connected with Nicholas King her nephew.”
Kathryn Purkis for Mr Farrell and Ms King denied the accusations and requested that the judge uphold the will of 2009.
The judge was told by Farrell that it was fiction that Ms Farrell had a secret relationship with Mr King.
Jean had an alternative hypothesis. She wanted to create a new will after she established contact with her nephew and because of the bitterness that Ms St Clair caused.
She stated that Jean’s father, Jean St Clair, had made mutual wills creating a trust.
Jean wasn’t mentally ill to alter her will, it was also denied.
Ms. St Clair is a resident of Melbourne, Australia and will be attending the hearing to represent herself through a videolink.
Continue the hearing