Morris dancer locked in inheritance fight with her family over dead parents’ £2m fortune is removed as executor of estate after she was sued by her nephews and nieces for having ‘hands in the till’
- Dana Conlin was appointed to look after Rosina and Charles’ properties in Wales
- She was supposed to look after them until her brother’s children became adults
- But her nieces and nephews sued her for using the estate for ‘personal profit’
A Morris dancer left in charge of her dead parents’ £2million fortune been removed as executor of the estate after being accused of having her ‘hands in the till’.
Dana Conlin and her brother Eugene were appointed to look after Rosina and Charles’ multimillion-pound properties in south Wales after they died in 2012.
The will instructed them to look after the family wealth until their dead brother Daniel’s children were old enough to in inherit their combined third of the estate.
But Dana and Eugene — who fell out in 2017 — were accused of using the estate for ‘personal profit’ and have now been sued by their nieces and nephews.
They used the estate credit card for personal purchases and put Dana’s son up for free in an estate property.
Dana devalued her parents’ six-bedroom house by £175,000 after putting off buyers with ‘smelly rubbish’ and ‘full ashtrays’ while living there, the High Court heard.
Now her and her brother have both been removed as executors and trustees by a judge at the London court. Dana was handed a £90,000 costs bill.
Morris dancer Dana Conlin (pictured) and her brother Eugene were appointed to look after Rosina and Charles’ multimillion-pound properties in south Wales after they died in 2012. They were accused of using the estate for ‘personal profit’ and were sued by their nieces and nephews
Dana used the estate credit card for personal purchases and put her son up for free in an estate property, a court heard
The court heard that the siblings’ mum Rosina died in 2012 and their dad Charles the following year, having left mirror wills.
Their estates included ‘significant assets’ including Bell House, in Magor, Caldicot, comprising 11 commercial units and worth an unknown seven-figure sum.
They also left development land worth £1.2mmillion, and the couple’s home, White Heather, in Penhow, which later sold for £650,000.
Charles and Rosina had four children, but only Dana and Eugene are still alive.
Daniel’s three children, Shannon Roberts, 27, Kitty Conlin, 25, and Ethan Conlin 21, are now entitled to inherit just over a third of the estate between them.
But Dana and Eugene, who had each been left a quarter share, are the executors and trustees and have still not cashed in the assets in the estate after a drastic falling out between the pair in 2017.
They were dragged to court last month by their nieces and nephews, who accused them of mismanaging the estate and using it to cover their personal spending, despite each having already been handed £50,000 of their inheritance.
James Poole, lawyer for the nieces and nephews, told judge Master William Hansen that they say both their aunt and uncle have been spending estate money.
The court heard that the Dana’s mum Rosina (left) died in 2012 and their dad Charles (right) the following year
‘Eugene says Dana was using the estate credit card for personal purchases so he started doing so too,’ he said.
‘Eugene says Dana’s son has been living in one of the flats at Bell House and not paying any rent.’
He also told the judge that White Heather, whilst marketed for £800,000, had sold for just £625,000.
Eugene blames that ‘undervalue’ and consequent loss to the estate on his sister Dana, who lived in the house for four years before its sale in 2017.
‘Eugene says the loss was down to how Dana treated the house,’ the barrister said, reading the judge a letter in which Eugene claimed that during viewings the property was ‘a complete mess’ with ‘cars and vans everywhere, full ashtrays, smelly rubbish and maggots and flies’.
‘The smell was unbearable,’ the letter adds, blaming Dana for ‘her abuse of the property…putting buyers off and devaluing the property’.
Mr Poole also told the judge that Eugene and Dana ‘fell out’ in 2017 and since then have been unable to agree on the simplest things to do with managing the estate.
He told the judge that one of the commercial tenants at Bell House had been ‘trying to pay its rent since 2017 but can’t because the defendants cant agree where it should be paid’.
Pictured: White Heather in Penhow, Wales
‘This exemplifies the level of dysfunction with which these trusts have been administered…it’s frankly absurd,’ he added.
Giving Dana’s side, he added: ‘Dana says it’s Eugene’s fault. She denies she had her hands in the till. Her position is that she hasn’t done anything wrong.’
Eugene however admits to having taken money from the estate and offered to quit his roles as executor and trustee and to pay back what he has taken, he said.
‘His position is that both defendants have profited from their roles as executors,’ he continued.
‘He is offering to pay it back. Dana’s position is very clearly that she doesn’t have to pay a penny.’
The barrister told the judge that ‘frightening costs’ had been run up through the family fight having to come to court.
But Gareth Thomas, Dana’s lawyer, told the judge that she finds the situation ’embarrassing and frustrating’.
Arguing that she should be allowed to remain in her positions of responsibility and Eugene alone removed, he said removal of an executor is a ‘drastic step only to be taken in a very clear cut case’.
Dana says she was simply living at the house until it could be sold and denies devaluing it during her occupation.
Daniel’s three children, Shannon Roberts (left), 27, Kitty Conlin (centre), 25, and Ethan Conlin (right), 21, are now entitled to inherit just over a third of the estate between them
‘Dana completely denies this,’ said her barrister. ‘She says the house was only ever worth £625,000.’
Alex Troup, for Eugene, told the judge there are ‘many reasons’ why Dana should not remain as trustee and executor of the estate.
‘Eugene wants both him and his sister to be removed…there is a large degree of hostility between Dana and Eugene,’ he said.
Removing both from their roles in managing the estate, Master Hansen said there appeared to be ‘very significant issues’ in the way they had administered the estates.
The judge added that the nieces and nephews have ‘numerous grounds of complaint against Eugene and Dana individually,’ including that Eugene ‘has consistently failed to administer the estates in a competent manner’.
In Dana’s case there is ‘a potential claim for occupation rent arising from occupation of White Heather for about five years’ and the ‘allegation that it sold at an undervalue’.
He said: ‘This situation cannot be allowed to persist any longer. I therefore propose to make an order removing both defendants as executors and trustees.’
He said that the costs run up by the nieces and nephews should be awarded against both defendants, but that Eugene would get indemnity as an executor so his costs would be paid by the estate.
But the judge stripped Dana of her indemnity, meaning that £90,000 will come out of her share personally.
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