Two nephews are locked in a ₤ 400,000 will contest the fortune of a 'houseproud' widow, who disinherited one side of her family after they recommended she go into a care home.

Doreen Stock, 86, passed away childless in 2021 and left her whole estate to her nephew, Simon Stock, and his other half Catherine, who lived just a few minutes from her south London home.

But her Michigan-based great-nephew, 39-year-old Ben Chiswick, has actually now released a bid to acquire the lot himself - regardless of not going to and even speaking with her over the phone given that his relocate to the US 8 years ago.

Propulsion engineer Mr Chiswick had actually been due to inherit her fortune under a previous will written practically 40 years earlier in 1986 when he was an infant, but was significantly disinherited by his great-aunt a year before her death.

The row appeared after his parents recommended Ms Stock hang around in a care home while they delighted in a three-week vacation.

Fighting to reinstate the previous will, Mr Chiswick claims Ms Stock, who he says was a 'component in his youth,' was too stricken by dementia to appropriately understand what she was doing when she changed her testament.

However, Simon and his partner are combating the case, declaring Mr Chiswick - who has resided in the US considering that 2017 - had no 'significant relationship' with Ms Stock beyond his early years while Mr Stock had actually been 'the closest thing to a son she had'.

Sitting at Central London County Court, Judge Jane Evans-Gordon heard that 'independent' and occasionally 'stubborn' Ms Stock had a deep psychological attachment to her home in Charminster Road, Mottingham, having shared it with her partner Samuel till his death in 2001.

Ben Chiswick, 39, visualized right with dad Brent, is challenging Doreen Stock's will in the courts after she disinherited him a year before her death

Doreen Stock, 86, passed away childless in 2021 and left her whole estate to her nephew, Simon Stock (pictured), and his spouse Catherine

With no children of her own, Ms Stock's first will, made in 1986, left her estate to Mr Chiswick, kid of her niece Patricia Chiswick and hubby Brent.

The estate principally contains the Mottingham home, which is valued online at about ₤ 400,000.

The court heard Ms Stock had had a great relationship with the Chiswicks, who assisted her with her shopping and visited her routinely.

She even made an enduring power of attorney in their favour, however before she passed away withdrawed the file and changed her will, leaving everything to a nephew on her partner's side.

Challenging the will, Mr Chiswick claims that his great-aunt's dementia in her final years suggests there is serious doubt whether she had the needed capability to make the changes.

And he said the fact there was no discussion with his side of the household about the new will suggested 'something not right' about her change of mind.

'Doreen and I had a really delighted relationship and she understood that leaving her estate to me would make an enormous difference to my life,' he said in his proof.

For Simon and Catherine, barrister James McKean told the court that Ms Stock had actually also been close to Simon, who was 'the closest thing to a son she had,' contributing to his school costs as a child.

And although she previously had a close relationship with Mr Chiswick's parents, that was messed up when they suggested she enter into a care home in 2019.

Patricia had then scheduled a 'capability evaluation' for her aunt, which the lawyer said led to Ms Stock fearing her independence was being threatened and ultimately changing her will.

The estate principally contains the Mottingham house, which is valued online at about ₤ 400,000

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The court heard there had been 'structure bitterness' with the way her power of lawyer was being administered, which 'lastly boiled over in the summer season of 2019 when the Chiswicks made an ill-judged - though possibly well-intentioned - suggestion to Doreen that she invest a period in property care.

'Doreen was, by all accounts, jealously independent. It is little wonder that she found the proposition to be worrying and offending.

'No doubt Doreen was fretted about the prospect of entering into a home, then was asked to go through the capability evaluation, and put 2 and two together.'

Within weeks of the assessment, which led to a report mentioning she 'did not have capability,' she had begun actions to revoke the power of lawyer and make a new will in Simon and Catherine's favour, he informed the judge.

Quizzing Patricia Chiswick in the witness box, he added: 'Doreen liked her home and it had been her and Samuel's home before his death. There was a deep emotional connection to that residential or commercial property.

'Saying to Doreen that she should leave that residential or commercial property and spend some time in a care home stank to her, wasn't it?

'From Doreen's perspective, this must have looked a genuine hazard to her self-reliance.'

But Patricia rejected disturbing the pensioner, firmly insisting that the plan was just ever for a time-out in a care home while she and her spouse went on holiday.

'It was just a recommendation since we do not normally disappear for 3 weeks at a time, and I believe she had been quite unhealthy and her health was weakening in general,' she stated.

'I was worried about leaving her and I believed it would be rather good if she could go someplace where she could be taken care of while we were away.

'It was definitely stressed that it was for three weeks. There was no tip she was going to stay there indefinitely.'

The Chiswicks did not visit Ms Stock again between the capacity evaluation in 2019 and her death in May 2021.

For Patricia's son Mr Chiswick, who is the complaintant in the case, lawyer Simon Lane said that, at the time she made the new will, she was 'susceptible and was behaving out of character.'

The 2019 assessment conducted after the idea of a care home relocation had actually resulted in a specialist's finding that she 'lacked capability,' he stated.

But Mr McKean stated the assessment wanted, with Ms Stock answering with 'prickly hostility' when she was quizzed about things that made no sense to her, such as a fire which never ever really took place.

Other evaluations around the exact same time had led to findings that she did have capability, although she was suffering with 'moderate' dementia,' he stated.

'Doreen may have had some memory problems, however capability and memory are various beasts,' he said.

'The court will struggle to find any evidence of impaired cognition or reasoning. On the contrary, Doreen's behaviour, values and reasoning corresponded and plausible at all times.'

He stated there was factor for her to decide to alter her will, the last being made more than 30 years formerly, which already Mr Chiswick - living and dealing with the opposite of the Atlantic - would have been 'far from her mind as a beneficiary.'

He had actually not seen her once again or even spoken on the phone after relocating to the US, while most of the evidence of their relationship originated from when he was a child.

On the other hand, Mr Stock and his spouse had actually been able to visit her regularly, living not far from her in Eltham, south London, he said.

'The court can be surprised neither by the making of the disputed will, nor by Doreen's choice of recipients,' he included.

The judge is anticipated to offer her ruling on the case at a later date.