Earl’s widow fights for permanent possession of valuable chattels

The England and Wales High Court has given judgment in a complex dispute between the widow of the eighth Earl of Bathurst and his children by his first marriage, regarding chattels in the Earl’s estate valued at nearly £2 million. The Earl’s Will specified that the chattels would be kept in the Bathurst family after his death, but it was later rendered unclear by a statutory codicil added to the Will by the Court of Protection, after the Earl had lost capacity.

The Court rejected Lady Gloria Bathurst’s claim that her life interest in the chattels bestowed on her the power to remove them all from their country estate at Cirencester for the remainder of her lifetime.

Lindsey Sharples is a solicitor in the private client team at Barker Gotelee, Solicitors in Ipswich.

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