Estate agent fears being made homeless over £500K legal bill after he lost High Court inheritance fight with bank manager sister who was cut out of their mother’s will over ‘delusional’ claims she stole her Harry Potter books
- John Clitheroe, 53, may have to sell his home after multiple appeals failed
- His mother Jean died in 2017 and had suffered from grief-induced ‘delusions’
- His share of the estate has been completely wiped out by massive legal bills
An estate agent fears becoming homeless after losing a court battle with his sister over their late mother cutting her out of her will while ‘delusional’ – and needs to come up with £500,000 to pay her legal bills.
John Clitheroe, 53, and sister Sue Bond, 55, clashed in court over the estate left by their mother, Jean Clitheroe, who died in 2017.
Ms Clitheroe wrote her will whilst suffering from multiple delusions – including a false belief that her daughter had stolen her collection of Harry Potter books.
The mother, who had left assets valued at between £450,000 to £670,000, had also branded her daughter a ‘spendthrift’ and ‘shopaholic’ and cut her out of her will, believing she would ‘fritter away’ any inheritance.
She left the bulk of her wealth to Mr Clitheroe in her final will of 2013.
But after a challenge by bank manager Ms Bond a judge ruled the last will and an earlier one were invalid, as she was affected by ‘insane delusions’ about her daughter when she wrote them.
Jean Clitheroe (circled top right) left her daughter Susan (bottom left) out of her final will in 2013
Son John Clitheroe disputed his sister’s court win and must now pay her legal bills of around £500,000
That result meant the warring siblings would share their mother’s estate because she died intestate, without a valid will.
However Mr Clitheroe, a once successful estate agent based in Essex, went on to challenge the ruling, but had his appeal dismissed by High Court judge, Mrs Justice Falk, last year.
Challenging the initial ruling, Mr Clitheroe’s lawyers said the court’s decision to give his sister half his mother’s wealth was an ‘unwarranted infringement’ of her right to decide who to give her money to.
They blamed the judge’s reliance on a 140-year-old Victorian law – known as the ‘Banks Test’ – which they said risks older people being ‘wrongly denied autonomy to make their own decisions.’
He now faces losing his home to pay his sister’s court costs of around £500,000, having already been ordered to hand over £200,000 of that on account in October.
Last week, the original trial judge Deputy Master John Linwood placed final charging orders on two properties owned by Mr Clitheroe in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex – including his home – to make sure his sister’s costs get paid.
That move means Mr Clitheroe has been left with fears he will be made ‘homeless,’ along with his entire half share of his mother’s estate being ‘extinguished’ by towering lawyers’ bills.
The judge said: ‘I appreciate this is a difficult position for Mr Clitheroe in respect of his own home, which is not only his home but also his children’s – as well as his difficulties with his mental health.’
He had heard a plea by Mr Clitheroe’s ex-wife, stressing that she also has a stake in the properties, and adding: ‘The thought of their dad being homeless has caused his children great psychological distress’.
Mr Clitheroe’s court debts dated back to June 2020, but none of the money had been paid, said his sister’s barrister, James Fagan, adding that Ms Bond has spent up to £500,000 fighting the case.
And whatever he stands to inherit from his half share of his mother’s estate will be wiped out by his debts from the crippling litigation, the barrister said, adding: ‘His share of the estate will be extinguished’.
At the original High Court trial in 2020, his mother was described as a ‘feisty and stubborn’ woman who gave detailed reasons for writing her daughter out of her 2013 will and leaving her with very little in a previous 2010 will.
Her 2010 will left the bulk of her estate – which largely consisted of her former home in Woodlands Close, Clacton-on-Sea – to her son, while her daughter was to receive only a diamond and garnet ring that once belonged to her great aunt.
The 2013 will again left her son most of her estate, with some small legacies to grandchildren, but this time Sue was to receive nothing at all.
In written instructions to lawyers for the 2010 will, she claimed Ms Bond was a ‘shopaholic and would just fritter it away’, while she also slammed her daughter’s alleged ‘spendthrift ways’ when drawing up the 2013 will.
Ms Clitheroe, who was 76 when she died, also claimed Ms Bond had deliberately severed ties with her and that she stole treasured items, including a collection of Harry Potter books.
On top of that, the elderly widow claimed in a note to her lawyers: ‘Susan hasn’t done anything for me, as far as she is concerned I could have starved to death’.
But the trial judge, Deputy Master Linwood, overturned Ms Clitheroe’s wills because she was deluded when she drafted them.
She had suffered an intense grief reaction to the death of her other daughter, primary school teacher Debra, in 2009 and although still intellectually sound, had ‘poisoned’ her own mind with her fixed delusions about Ms Bond.
He said Mr Clitheroe had failed to prove that his mother ‘was not suffering from an affective disorder of the mind and was not suffering from delusions’ which affected her ability to make a will.
Mr Clitheroe challenged the ruling on appeal but, after a series of court hearings, he failed to reverse the decision, only succeeding in ramping up the already massive legal costs bill.
The charging orders give Ms Bond part ownership of her brother’s property portfolio, but if she wants to pursue an order for sale of the properties she will have to return to court to ask for it, the judge added.
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