Left out of will, Sikh widow wins half of 1m pounds estate in UK
Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Feb, 2023 11:56 AM
London, Feb 17 (IANS) An 83-year-old Sikh woman, whose late husband of 66 years left her out of his will, has won a high court battle in London for a share of an estate worth more than 1 million pounds.
Karnail Singh, who died in 2021, left nothing for wife Harbans Kaur and four daughters, as he handed all of his estate to his two sons, The Guardian reported.
Justice Peel heard that Singh, who wrote in will in 2005, "wished to leave his estate solely down the male line".
Kaur, who married Singh in 1955, estimated the estate to be worth 1.9 million pounds gross but one of her sons put the value at 1.2 million pounds, the court was told.
Ruling that Kaur should get 50 per cent of the net value of the estate, the judge said that it was clear "reasonable provision" had not been made for the widow, whose income consisted of state benefits of about 12,000 pounds.
Hearing the case in London's family division of the high court, Peel said proof showed that Kaur had played a "full role" in the marriage and worked in the family's clothing business.
"After a marriage of 66 years, to which she made a full and equal contribution, and during which all the assets accrued, she is left with next to nothing," Peel said, while giving out the judgement.
"This decision is evidence that people cannot simply be cut out of wills, especially spouses which have contributed for a significant number of years," Heledd Wyn, a partner at law firm Shakespeare Martineau, said.
District Judge Ronald Gwee gave the decision on Thursday after the domestic help, Susi Rimasari, left Singapore before the start of the trial. Noting that Susi was an unwilling witness, Judge Gwee said the situation had put the accused people at a disadvantage.
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A Federal prosecutor has charged a "prominent" Indian-American of using his standing in the community to rip off others in a real estate scam that promised high rates of returns. Michael Easley, the federal prosecutor for eastern North Carolina, announced on Tuesday that Kumar Arun Neppalli, 56, has been charged with defrauding 12 people.
The court heard that on September 7 last year, Singh smashed a window in De Montfort House, Leicester city centre, with a hockey stick after getting a warning note on his car asking him not to park in the wrong spot.
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