A woman could lose her home after going to court when her dead dad left £260,000 to charity – and gave her just £5,000.
Sonya Young gave up her job to concentrate on a legal fight after her dad Brian Cole donated £268,000 to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in his will.
Meanwhile Sonya and her dad's partner got just £5,000 each.
Former lifeboat captain Mr Cole killed himself aged 70 in 2013 – 25 days after he signed off the will.
Mrs Young has been fighting the charity since 2015 in a bid to prove her dad was not in his right mind when he made his final will, Wales Online reports.
But in July last year, Judge Paul Teverson found in favour of the charity, upholding the will and ruling that Mr Cole had known what he was doing.
He had made a conscious decision to “disinherit” his daughter after a bad falling out, the judge said.
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Mrs Young went on to pay £214,000 of her dad’s money to the RNLI, but had already spent around £54,000, the court heard.
Now, at the request of RNLI lawyers, the judge has imposed a charging order on Mrs Young’s £260,000 house in Dinas Powys, southern Wales, and the court was told the property might have to be sold to pay off the “shortfall” she owes to the charity under her dad’s will.
London’s High Court heard that Mr Cole, who was worth around £300,000 when he passed away, had named his only daughter as his main heir under a previous 2008 will.
But in another will he executed in 2012, he largely “disinherited her” in favour of his then girlfriend Angela Saunders.
His last will in 2013, however, left both women only £5,000 each, with nearly all of his assets going to the RNLI in honour of his former service as a lifeboatman “for the purpose of the upkeep of the Penarth lifeboat and the station at Penarth”.
Daniel Burton – the RNLI’s barrister – claimed there was a troubled history between father and daughter, and that there had been some “fundamental disagreement” between them.
“The evidence is clear that his intention was to disinherit his daughter and he had already done that pursuant to his previous will,” he added.
But Mrs Young claimed: “I don’t believe my father had testamentary capacity… I believe this is a case where there are questions.”
Judge Teverson said Mrs Young’s only possible challenge to the will hinged on claims that her father was not of sound mind.
But the evidence did not suggest this, the judge found, saying the changes Mr Cole made to his various wills “are explained by him falling out with his daughter and then with his partner”.
The judge ruled in favour of the 2013 will and the RNLI.
This week, he ordered Mrs Young to pay the charity £54,000 and put a charging order in that sum on her house.
Phillip Young, Mrs Young’s estranged husband, was in court and told the judge he didn’t oppose the charging order, despite having a half interest in the house.
But he added: “She gave up work to fight this case. Because of what she’s done, everything that I’ve worked for that should have gone to my children is going to be handed to the RNLI. I do feel very strong and bitter about it.”
The judge also ordered her to pay £9,047 court costs.
Mrs Young had turned down a pre-trial settlement offer of £30,000 from the RNLI, the court heard.
A spokesman for the RNLI said: “Legacies such as those left by Mr Cole play a vital part in saving lives at sea and the charity is extremely grateful to anyone who leaves a gift in their will.”
Mr Cole’s ex, Angela Saunders, played no part in the court hearing.
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