Woman wins court row after brothers claimed she made mum cut them from £1m will

25 February 2024 , 08:09

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Rita Rea outside London's High Court

A woman has won a landmark ruling after her three brothers accused her of "coercing" their elderly mother into cutting them out of her £1million fortune.

Rita Rea's brothers - Remo Rea, Nino Rea, and David Rea - claimed she had put pressure on her mother Anna into writing a new will which left her £1m home in Brenda Road, Tooting, south London, only to her. The woman, who died at the age of 85 on July 26, 2016, was deaf in one ear and had poor hearing in the other, so she needed a hearing aid, the High Court heard.

During the 20 last years of her life, Anna had diabetes. She also developed other health issues including kidney disease, bilateral cataracts, sciatica, and she was wheelchair-bound.

David Rea outside the High Court after the hearing (Champion News)

Rita's brother Remo Rea outside the court in London (Champion News)

The court heard that by the time of her death, Anna had been living at her home in Tooting Bec, south London, and that her daughter Rita was her main carer, having moved in with her in 2009. While writing a will in front of a solicitor in 2015, Anna stated she wanted the home to go to Rita, adding she did not want her three sons to inherit a share in the property "explaining that they did not care for her and that she felt abandoned by them," according to the ruling.

The three brothers took legal action after their mother's death, arguing their sister had "coerced" their mum, who emigrated to the UK from Italy after World War Two, into writing the will. However, on Friday the Court of Appeal ruled Rita had not put her mother under undue influence to give her the whole property.

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After the judge said it was "inherently improbable" that she put her "coerced" her mother, saying: "I do not consider that the evidence before the Judge was capable of supporting a finding of undue influence. That being so, the appropriate course is, I think, to confirm the validity of the 2015 Will."

Anna Rea's will sparked a court battle between her four children (Champion News)

Following the ruling, Ms Rea's lawyers said it was important as it would protect people from accusations of wrongdoing by disinherited relatives in future. Rita, a former tennis coach, said last night that her brothers put her through "years of hell" over the "outrageous" claims.

She now owes her lawyers more than £280,000 but her brothers are likely to be ordered to pay the bill, reports the Daily Mail. Solicitor Paul Britton said the ruling was "a good day for those who are there for their loved ones at the end of life – and a bad day for anyone coming out of the woodwork and expecting a quick buck."

This week's ruling comes after last summer a judge ruled that Rita had "coerced" their mum into making the will. Overturning the testament and reinstating an earlier will which split the estate four ways, Judge David Hodge KC said the evidence suggested Rita had exercised "undue influence" over her frail mum such that she was "overborne".

The home in Brenda Road, Tooting, London, at the centre of a court battle between the siblings (Champion News)

"First, there is Anna's frailty and vulnerability," he said in his judgment. "Wheelchair-bound, hard of hearing, and requiring constant care and attention, Anna's quality of life was limited. She seemed to spend much of her life colouring in children's books. This is to be contrasted with what I find to be Rita's argumentative and forceful personality, and her forceful physical presence."

In her last testament, she declared that Rita, who had moved in to care for her in 2009, deserved to inherit her home because "she has taken care of me all these years". She stated: "My sons do not help me with their care and there has been numerous calls for help from me but they are not engaging with any help or assistance.

"My sons have not taken care of me and my daughter Rita has been my sole carer for many years. Hence should any of my sons challenge my estate, I wish my executors to defend any such claim as they are not dependent on me and I do not wish for them to share in my estate, save for what I have stated in this will."

Chiara Fiorillo