A sister at the centre of contested will has admitted overstepping her duties as power of attorney by spending her mother’s fortune on herself and her family, but denied her actions amounted to a misappropriation of funds.
The will of multi-millionaire Jeanne MacDougall is being contested by her son, Gary MacDougall, who claims his sister Sandra Thomas (pictured right) “extracted significant sums” of up to £1.7 million from their mother’s bank account while Mrs Thomas had power of attorney, between 2012 and 2020.
Barrister Alexander Learmonth KC, for Mrs Thomas, said she had not been properly advised about what she could do and believed she could spend her mother’s money in a way she would have wanted, and that spending it would reduce inheritance tax.
Mr MacDougall claims the 2011 will is invalid due to the influence his sister had on their mother, who he says lacked the necessary mental capacity due to dementia when she signed the will as she was elderly and dependent on her daughter and husband and had “lost almost all of her independence”.
The 2011 will left four properties to Mrs Thomas and her husband, along with the majority of Mrs MacDougall’s savings. The total value of the estate was valued at around £5 million.
A previous will made in 2008 had amounted to “a broadly equal” split between the siblings.
Under the terms of the 2008 will, each sibling would have received two properties each, with Mrs Thomas receiving the balance of their mother’s bank accounts.
Mr MacDougall claims his sister and her husband “procured by undue influence” one of the houses that would have been left to him under the terms of the 2008 will, which he says is worth £1.7 million.
He is also claiming a share of £1.685 million of his mother’s money, which he says was “misappropriated” by his sister and spent on holidays, cars, shopping trips and the wedding of Mrs Thomas’s daughter.
Mr Learmonth said Mrs Thomas denied any undue influence and that Mrs MacDougall had not displayed any signs of problems related to dementia, apart from occasional absent-mindedness.
While agreeing the court should not indulge in speculation, Mr Learmonth suggested the will could have been changed to take into account Mr MacDougall’s business success and wealth, his mother’s disappointment at an extra-marital affair, and her “gratitude for the time and care” given by Mrs Thomas and her husband.
Barrister Harry Martin, for Mr MacDougall, said his client should receive half of the value of the sums taken by his sister along with property transferred out of the estate before Mrs MacDougall died.
The trial continues.
