Four Properties, Two Documents, and a 14-Year Family Battle

A families while their inheritance is frozen for years. The human cost is always higher than the financial one. This case is a stark reminder of that.

A man, Abbas Moaven, died at 44. He left a widow and two young children. His will, signed in hospital, left his entire estate to them. That should have been the end of the matter.

It was not. A dispute over four London properties, worth millions, left his estate unadministered for fourteen years. Fourteen years while his children grew up.

The Conflicting Documents The problem was a set of documents signed the day before the will. These four declarations of trust claimed the properties were not solely his. They stated the properties had always been held in three equal shares: for him, his brother, and his mother.

If these declarations were valid, two-thirds of the properties’ value would be removed from his estate. His wife and children would be left with almost nothing. The estate itself may have been insolvent. One of the executors of the will was the deceased’s brother, a direct beneficiary of the trusts. This created an immediate, intractable conflict.

The Real-World Consequence The High Court eventually found the declarations of trust were a sham. They were created at the last minute to disinherit the man’s immediate family. But the judgment came after 14 years of legal argument and enormous expense.

This is what happens when estate planning is left to a crisis. A deathbed will clashing with hastily created trusts is not a plan. It is a formula for conflict. For UK families with property, the lesson is absolute. A trust can be a powerful tool, but it must be established with clear intent, for the right reasons, and well in advance. It cannot be used as a last-ditch weapon to undo a lifetime of arrangements.

The court case cost a fortune. The family paid a higher price. We have seen these situations unfold. If any part of this feels familiar, we should have a conversation.