Century old law helps woman win £300k inheritance battle
A woman has won a legal battle against her step-sister for £300,000 in inheritance after using a 1925 law to argue her stepfather died before her mother.
Parents, John and Ann Scarle, died from hypothermia in October 2016. The court heard that their home had been "turned upside down" by burglars and they were found dead on the evening of October 11th in their property in Leigh-On-Sea in Essex.
Following their death, their children began a legal dispute over who would inherit the bungalow valued at £280,000. Step-sisters, Anna Winter and Deborah Cutler, argued over which parent died first to determine who was entitled to the inheritance.
The judge awarded the inheritance to one of the step-sisters after referring to a 1925 law, leaving the other sister having to pay at least £150,000 in legal costs.
Anna Winter argued that her stepmother Mrs Scarle was likely to have died first which would have meant that her father inherited the house, which should then be passed onto her.
But Mrs Scarle's daughter argued that it couldn't be determined who had passed away first. She referred to the Commoriented Rule in Section 184 of the Law of Property Act 1925.
The 1925 law states that in the case of simultaneous deaths, where it cannot be determined who died first, the younger should be presumed to have outlived the elder. In this case, Mrs Scarle, 69 should be presumed to have outlived Mr Scarle, 79.
The court ruled in favour of Mrs Cutler at the Royal Courts of Justice. Judge Philip Kramer said: "I conclude that there is uncertainty as to the order of death. Section 184 applies and the younger is deemed to have survived the elder."
Mrs Winter was ordered to pay the majority of Mrs Cutler's costs as well as her own, totalling at least £150,000.
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