After 66 years of marriage, when an 83-year-old woman in the United Kingdom and her daughters got nothing in her husband’s will when he died, she took up the matter legally. A court in London has now ruled in her favour, granting her a share of an estate worth more than £1 million (around $1.2 million).
Karnail Singh, as per reports, died in 2021 and left everything to his two sons because he “wished to leave his estate solely down the male line”, the family division of the high court in London was told. Harbans Kaur, his wife, and their four daughters were cut out in the will that was written in 2005. Kaur was married since 1955. The family owns a clothing business, and an estate valued at £1.9 million (approx. $2.23 million), according to Kaur. Her son, however, said the estate was worth £1.2 million ($1.4 million).
Justice Peel, who heard the matter, was quoted as saying in a report by The Guardian: “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.” The wife was left “next to nothing,” the judge further noted, stressing, “it is hard to see how any other conclusion can be reached”. Kaur made a “full and equal contribution” during the marriage of 66 years, he said.
The London court has ruled that she should get 50 per cent of the net value of the estate. Post the decision, Kaur’s lawyer emphasized that the ruling “should be a warning”, adding that “spouses can’t be simply cut out of wills”.