The Brazilian-born former wife of a wealthy London property investor and restaurateur is fighting a £5million High Court battle to restore four properties to her husband’s estate and allow her and their children to inherit their full value.
Gabriela Teixeira and Abbas Moaven and their two children Elis and Aryan, now 22 and 19, lived in a series of high-end properties around some of the capital’s most desirable neighbourhoods. Iranian-born Moaven was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and died in May 2012, aged 45, with his last will leaving his estate in third shares to his widow and children.
After his death, Teixeira, a yoga teacher and doula, discovered that he had signed legal documents declaring that four properties – at the time worth over £3m – were not entirely his, but shared with his mum and brother Amir Moaven, and that she could be left with nothing.
During a week-long trial, Teixeira told judge Deputy Master Timothy Bowles that Moaven had never given any indication that the flat was not entirely his property. Her barrister, Alexander Learmonth KC, argued that the documents were “obviously shams,” designed by Moaven to prevent his wife or creditors from making a claim to most of his assets after his death.
He pointed to an attendance note from a meeting between Moaven’s solicitor and brother Amir, when Moaven was “seriously unwell” at home. The lawyers’ note stated: “His concern was what would happen if Abbas passed away and his wife disappeared with the two children to Brazil. How could they prevent this, and how could they prevent her from having access to the funds from the property assets?”
Moaven’s brother’s barrister, Lydia Pemberton, described the row as a “very bitter family dispute,” but insisted the declarations were “the written manifestation of the long-standing agreement” that the properties were held by Moaven, his brother and their mother in equal shares.
Commenting on the case Amanda Smallcombe, Partner in the Private Wealth Disputes team at Birketts LLP said :
“This case illustrates how documents signed in the final weeks of life can have profound and contentious consequences. The dispute centres not on a dispute about the validity of a will, but on the validity of declarations of trust executed shortly before Mr Moaven’s death, the practical effect of which was to strip substantial assets out of his estate. If those documents stand, the estate is said to be reduced to little or nothing, leaving his widow and children with no inheritance, while his brother and mother benefit instead.
“Cases of this kind frequently raise difficult questions about intention, transparency and fairness. Where last minute arrangements dramatically alter who stands to inherit, the court will look closely at whether those documents genuinely reflected the deceased’s wishes or whether they were designed to defeat the reasonable expectations, or potential claims, of a spouse and children.
“The outcome will be of wide interest, as it underlines the importance of careful scrutiny of late executed estate planning documents and the risk of family conflict when ownership structures are changed at the eleventh hour.”
Judge Deputy Master Bowles has reserved his decision on the case until a later date.
One Response
The declaration of trust may have been made out of enmity or spitefulness, against a difficult family background. At the very least, the Court will doubtless consider what would have been the likely outcome of a dispute between Husband and Wife in notional divorce proceedings between them immediately before his death. Would a divorce court have decided, for example, that the Trust Deed should be set aside?