‘Loyal’ son fights sister in court over share of £100m

A SON who had seen his inheritance reduced from almost £30 million to £200,000 had offered to give his father one of his lungs, a court heard yesterday.

Bill Reeves, 47, has accused his sister Louise Reeves, 35, of bullying their father Kevin into rewriting his will so the majority of his £100 million fortune would go to her.

Miss Reeves claims their father wanted her to inherit more as he saw her as the heir to his business empire.

But Mr Reeves claims he was so dedicated to his property tycoon father that he had offered to donate a lung to the late Mr Reeves, who had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Mr Reeves, who died aged 71 in 2019, had previously intended to split the bulk of his estate equally between his children Bill, Louise and Lisa, but in 2014 rewrote his will to almost entirely leave Bill out.

Under the new will, Mr Reeves received personal possessions worth about £200,000, but the rest of the £100 million fortune went to the daughters, with Louise receiving £80 million and Lisa £20 million. But he is now challenging the will in the High Court. Mr Reeves’s barrister Constance Mcdonnell QC insisted that the move made no sense as he had been proud of his “loyal” son, who had turned a £20,000 investment into his own property and business empire, worth £20 million.

She said: “Bill had at his own cost constructed the annexe at his home for Kevin’s use, funded its outgoings, insured his father’s cars including a valuable Bentley which Bill had given to Kevin.

“Such a change was startling in the context of Kevin’s family and relationships,

‘Kevin’s relationship with his father was very close. The provisions of the 2014 will are out of character’

and those who knew him well aver in their evidence that the provisions of the 2014 will are completely out of character and inexplicable.”

But for Miss Reeves, who earlier denied coercing her dad or being money-oriented, Thomas Dumont QC denied that Mr Reeves had been so ill that he was vulnerable to the influence of his daughter, saying that “there is no clinical material linking any of Kevin’s physical health issues to his mental wellbeing or any suggestion of vulnerability to influence”. The trial continues.