Cat’s lucky discovery settles £2m farm inheritance battle

A CAT helped a woman win a High Court legal fight with her family over her late brother’s £2million estate after it uncovered a will which had been disputed for more than a decade.

Venetia Murray challenged her mother, Marlene Brunt, and her brother, Dale, over their brother Dean’s share in Ettridge Farm, a £6 million property in Broxbourne, Herts, which the three siblings inherited following their grandfather’s death in 1990.

The family became embroiled in a long-running legal battle following Dean’s death in 2007. The 35-year-old, who was killed after he accidentally stepped in front of a train, was not thought to have made any will.

As a result, his £2 million stake in the family’s farm was subsequently handed to Dale by the children’s 82-year-old mother, Marlene.

However, Ms Murray, 36, claimed that there were. in fact, two wills, which were made out by Dean in 1999 and that requested his third share of the family farm be split evenly between Venetia and Dale.

Dale and Mrs Brunt claimed the documents were forged after Dean’s death. However, their claims were weakened after the original was unearthed when a solicitor’s cat knocked over a pile of papers which were about to be shredded.

Barrister Duncan Macpherson said it was agreed that the second will was written at the same time as the first and so it was “crucial evidence in support of the authenticity of both”.

At the High Court in London, Judge Paul Teverson this week rejected claims by Mr Murray and his mother that the wills were forged and he ruled that Venetia will get half of Dean’s share of the farm.

The judge said: “Looking at the totality of the evidence before the court, I am satisfied Dean had understood what was in the will and did approve its contents.”