Three sisters sue stepmother who was left father's entire £4m fortune after marrying him THREE DAYS before he died
By PAUL HARRIS
Last updated at 10:10 AM on 22nd July 2011
Court battle: Maureen Wharton was the partner of George Wharton for 30 years but only married three days before his death at home in Kent
They married in their sitting room just hours after he was told he was going to die.
Wealthy businessman George Wharton proposed to Maureen, his former mistress, as soon as he was diagnosed as terminally ill.
Crucially, he also gave ‘clear instructions’ over what should happen to his £4million fortune.
Three days later the 78-year-old was dead. And to the enduring disbelief of his three grown-up daughters, he left everything to the 66-year-old blonde who had just become their step-mother.
Now the sisters are locked in a bitter legal battle over their father’s will amid allegations that the new Mrs Wharton, 66, put pressure on him to leave his fortune to her and make sure they got nothing.
Yesterday at the High Court in London – in a case described by a judge as ‘a family at war with itself’ – Vicki Wharton and her sisters Amanda and Gina denied any of them had suggested their father had been ‘unlawfully killed’.
But Mrs Wharton, of Minster, Kent, insisted they had contacted a coroner to ask for an autopsy because they were ‘not happy’ at the way morphine had been administered.
When challenged in court that this was rather different from alleging unlawful killing, she replied: ‘Vicki was shouting out “legalised murder”. What else am I supposed to think?’
The tale of the three sisters versus the ex-mistress unfolded when Victoria Wharton, 55, Amanda Wharton, 42, and Gina Fagin, 51, faced Mrs Wharton in the court. They claim the 2008 will was secured by ‘undue influence’ and should be ruled invalid.
George Wharton, widely known simply as ‘the boss’ by friends and colleagues at his leisure and caravan park company, led a double life during the 1960s and early 1970s, the court heard.
He moved in with his mistress, then Maureen Gray, ‘while leading his family to believe he was away on business’, said Mrs Wharton’s barrister Constance McDonnell.
He was ‘not close’ to Victoria and ‘estranged’ from Gina and Amanda. In contrast, he had a loving relationship with Maureen, who lived with him as his partner for years and eventually took his name.
In business, the court heard, she was also his ‘right-hand woman’.
On September 22, 2008, Mr Wharton was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
He immediately proposed to Maureen, obtained a special discharge from hospital the next day and married her that evening at the home they shared.
None of the sisters was present. His solicitor Timothy Bancroft told the court Mr Wharton gave ‘clear and simple instructions’ that day that the children should receive nothing and that he wished to leave ‘all to Maureen’.]
Family feud: Victoria Wharton
Court case: Gina Fagin
Suing: Amanda Wharton
Mrs Wharton told Mr Justice Norris that she and her husband of three days had a long-term pact that they would marry on their deathbeds if either became terminally ill. She insisted she never discussed the will with her husband, adding that she was frightened of his temper.
He used to hit her and tell her what clothes to wear, she said – but she never fell out of love with him.
She denied making it clear that the daughters would not be welcome at his funeral or that she had cut up and sent back a card that Vicki left for her father.
Jeremy Cousins, QC for the sisters, said Victoria recalled that soon after signing the 2008 will, he told her there was ‘nothing to worry about and that everything was taken care of’.
The lawyer added: ‘If she is right in what she said, it casts very grave doubt over whether Mr Wharton really did intend to dispose of his assets as the will suggests.’
The hearing continues.
================================================.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2017363/3-sisters-sue-stepmother-left-father-George-Whartons-entire-4m-fortune.html#ixzz1SptYe29S
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