Two siblings’ inheritance dispute with their uncle has resulted in the latter receiving a prison sentence after refusing to pay his niece and nephew £237,000 left to them by his mother.
Mark Totton, 51, was named as the executor of his mother Hazel Totton’s will following her death in 2019.
Hazel left a quarter of her estate each to both her granddaughter Hollie Totton, 25, and grandson Daniel Washer, 19.
Yet, three years after her death, the siblings had not received any of the money they were entitled to – and Mark, their uncle, refused to say where the money went.
He therefore landed himself a six-week prison sentence after Hollie and Daniel took matters to the high court. However, Mark has still not paid his niece and nephew what they are owed as beneficiaries of their grandmother’s will.
Following the legal action they took earlier this year, Mark breached an order to return back to court. When the police tracked him down, he still refused to disclose what he had done with the money.
Forced back to court, he finally began to take steps towards complying with the court order. Namely, he disclosed that the estate was comprised of £425,000 from the sale of his mother’s house and £48,000 in savings and investments.
Yet, in an effort to avoid “self-incrimination”, he refuses to say anything further – in his own words, he has “put his head in the sand”.
Despite his lawyer arguing that he was a supportive, family man with a clean record who had battled depression during the family row, the judge said he had “deliberately failed to comply with his duties as executor”, rejecting his lawyer’s argument that he had never been in contempt of court due to the fact he was simply avoiding “self-incrimination”.
The judge, Mr Justice Leech, said his failure to provide information constituted a “serious, contumacious flouting of orders of the court,” ordering him to pay his younger family members’ £18,000 legal fees alongside his six-week prison sentence.
