Man 'fails in bid to contest mother's will'

22 February 2010



The son of a wealthy Sheffield woman has failed to successfully contest her will in the High Court, it has been reported. John Kershaw said his sisters should be removed as executors of his mother's estate in favour of a neutral third party after he believed her estate to have been under-valued, the Sheffield Telegraph reports.

Adrienne Kershaw's estate had been valued for probate at £2.9 million, although her son claimed it was worth around double that figure. He contested the will on the basis that the lower valuation would be the most beneficial to his sisters when they came to claim their inheritance.

Mr Justice Newey ruled: "I have not been persuaded there is good reason for anyone to be removed as executor." He also indicated that the evidence provided by Mr Kershaw did not provide any real basis to suppose the estate will not be administered properly.

Craig Williams, senior associate and contested probate expert, comments: "Applications to remove executors are extremely common, particularly where beneficiaries have conflicting interests in an estate and their actions will always be seen to be favouring one set of beneficiaries over another. To succeed in such an application, a beneficiary must be able to show wrong-doing or that the administration is being hamstrung by the actions or inactions of the executor. This was obviously not the case here."

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Posted by Craig Williams

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