An uncaring man has pleaded guilty to fraud by abusing his position as executor of his late stepfather’s Will.
Ron Savory, 58, who was trusted to act as executor, ignored his stepfather’s wishes by spending every last penny of the estate on himself.
The deceased, Dennis Hicks, wrote in his Will that almost £24,000 should be split 50/50 between his stepchildren, Ron and his sister Ivy, once the nursing home fees had been paid.
However, Savory did not carry out his stepdad’s wishes and instead “out of spite” spent all the money to benefit himself.
The court heard how Mr Savory’s stepdad had died in Spring 2016 leaving a legacy of £23,890, naming the defendant as the executor.
The prosecutor, Sian Cutter told the court that Mr Hicks had left instructions in his Will which meant the money should be split equally between the two siblings.
Prior to Mr Hick’s death he had been living in a care home in Dorset. The estate of the deceased owed the home £5,200 which left £9,344 for each sibling.
But Savory did not settle the bill with the care home nor did he pay his sister as beneficiary. Instead, he transferred all the money to his own personal account and continued to fritter it away over the following months.
Obviously angry over the betrayal of her brother, Ivy took the matter to the small claims court to try and retrieve what was hers from the inheritance. She successfully got a court order against him and bailiffs attempted to recover the money from his house which turned out to be futile.
Savory’s sister confirmed the police were called and following interviews he accepted his disloyalty and said he “could not deny that he wanted it to be hard for my sister to get the money”. Savory, who has fathered five children, said the money had just “dwindled away” over time.
Ivy told the police in a victim impact statement that she felt “betrayed” by the whole situation regarding the inheritance.
Savory, who resides in Carmarthenshire and had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to the crime.
Savory’s lawyer, Tom Scapens said that the defendant had not squandered the inheritance on an expensive lifestyle. He added his client had acted “not out of greed but out of spite” and had discredited himself and disrespected his parents.
Savory was told by the judge that executors are entrusted to act honestly and scrupulously which in this case he had done neither.
The judge told Savory:
“You seem to think acting out of spite is better than acting out of greed. I think you acted out of both. If you are not thoroughly ashamed of yourself you should be.”
This case highlights the importance of carefully appointing executor(s) of Wills who can be entrusted to carry out wishes to the letter.
