An 83-year-old woman whose husband left her nothing in his million pound will has been awarded a share of his estate. Harbans Kaur was left with nothing and forced to live on benefits when her husband Karnail Singh died.
Mr Singh left everything from his estate - which was valued between £1.2m and £1.9m - to his two sons but nothing to his wife of 66 years. In a High Court case to contest the will, Mr Justice Peel heard that Mr Singh “wished to leave his estate solely down the male line”.
The family had left a clothing business which led to the estate being worth £1.9m gross. Mr Peel ruled that Mrs Kaur should get 50% of the net value of the estate. He said "reasonable provision" had not been made for Mrs Kaur, whose income was state benefits of around £12,000.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Peel wrote: “The claimant and the deceased married in 1955, so that by the time of his death they had been married for about 66 years. They had seven children, of whom one sadly is deceased.”
“By (a) will, dated 25 June 2005, the estate was left in equal shares to two of the children… the sons of the claimant and the deceased. The reason why the will was crafted in these terms, excluding the claimant and the other four siblings, was because the deceased wished to leave his estate solely down the male line.”
He added: “It seems to me that this is the clearest possible case entitling me to conclude that reasonable provision has not been made for the claimant. It is hard to see how any other conclusion can be reached. 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.”
