Forged signature leads to court
Expert evidence has proved that a carer forged her employer’s signature on a will. As a result, she has lost her claim to 40% of his estate, according to media reports.
In a classic case of abuse, it appears that Donna Henderson took control of Marcel Chu’s life in the year before he died, aged 73, isolating him from his siblings Allen, Stanley and Eva.
Mr Chu was a retired London banker whose estate, worth £1m was divided in a will made in 2008 between his family and a close friend. But after his death, a will dated 9th May 2014 was produced which left 40% of his wealth to Donna Henderson and her children.
Donna Henderson said that she had only ‘guided the hand’ of Mr Chu, but a handwriting expert confirmed that the signature on the 2014 will was not Mr Chu’s. In addition to the forgery of the signature, the judge is said to have found that Mr Chu lacked mental capacity to make a will. So the 2014 will would have been invalid on two counts.
Forged signature cases are relatively rare. It’s essential that whenever the authenticity of a document is raised, that the correct expert in the field of forensic document examination (FDE) is instructed. As the barrister and writer Carl Islam says, very politely, in his Contentious Probate Handbook:
“Unfortunately , the FDE profession is troubled by individuals who claim expertise but have not undertaken full training as recognised by forensic scientists in the field.”
As a solicitor specialising in will disputes and financial abuse, I have certainly come across so called ‘experts’ in cases involving forgery or document tampering who, quite frankly, didn’t have a clue, let alone relevant qualifications. Any case where the validity of an important document is challenged requires good quality evidence from a relevant expert. To get expert evidence ‘on the cheap’ is an expensive mistake.
In this case, the carer has been left with a legal bill of £85,000, as well as no inheritance. And hopefully little chance of being employed as a ‘carer’ again.
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Sarah Young Director – Litigation
