The daughter of a tycoon from ragged clothes beat her brother in a fight over her parents' multimillion-pound country estate.
Charlie Hughes, 91, and his wife Nora have set up a lucrative metal recycling business in Yorkshire.
The couple began moving north in the 1960s, when he was a humble ragged man in London's East End.
In 1981, when they received a £1 million land compulsory purchase order in return, the family's fortunes changed – today it's worth around £4 million.
They soon continued to invest some of their cash in a sprawlingtown country estate near Doncaster, now worth millions of dollars.
It includes several houses and hundreds of acres of ancient woodland, where buried Roman silverware was found in the 1930s.
When siblings battle for control, recycling boss Charlie Hughes backed his son John
The couple had three children, but "nora's relationship with Charles has become strained as a result of years of extramarital affairs," the High Court learned.
In 2015, family ties continued to heat up over business, with the family splitting into two camps, with Charlie on the side of his 62-year-old son John, while Nora backed his 60-year-old daughter, Lisa Pickering, who the court heard was "her mother's apple." eyes".
When Nora "ruled" at home, dying in 2017 at the age of 87, she left half of the house and the remaining 25 acres of woodland to Lisa, but the quarrel ended up in court after John — backed by his father, Charlie . Insisting that it wasn't his mother's obligation.
His parents purchased the estate for him and his wife, Lorraine, in 1984, and Charlie agreed to a "horse dealer's handshake," i.e., in the name of his parents, but eventually "willingly" to John, who spent $100,000 to destroy.
But after a fierce high court battle, Judge Andrew Lennon now ruled in Lisa's favor and ordered that most of the family's possessions – buried deep in the Woodlands of Yorkshire – be sold for half of the proceeds.
"Whatever Charles told John, it was clear to me that Nora of 'Ruler' had never agreed to John and Lorraine becoming owners of Woodhouse, and she always made it clear to the members. "Her family," he said.
After a fierce battle in the High Court, the judge has now ruled in Lisa's favor
The court was informed that Nora and Charlie had inherited the "rag trade" business in London's East End from Charlie's father and grandfather and began to make a fortune.
They had three children and married in 1982 and lived together until 1993, after which they maintained a good relationship but separated.
As evidence, Charlie told the judge: "We have a relationship no matter what happens, but I do feel guilty about these things, which means I tend to overpay in some ways." I'll let Nora make the final decision on things in order to allow me to live a peaceful life.
"If it's a business decision or involves a lot of money, we'll discuss it together." But anything to do with my daughter Lisa, it's Nora's decision, and if I don't agree, I usually back off. She is the jewel in Nora's hand. Nora will always support her no matter what she does. ”
Edlington Wood House was a wreckage when the family bought it and the surrounding woods and farmland for £300,000 in 1984, but John spent six figures to improve it, living there with his wife Lorraine until they separated in 2005.
The court learned that parents had been hoping Lisa and John would divide their property equally, with their second son, David, 52, receiving £1 million, before Nora changed her mind before she died.
She severed co-ownership of the house and woodland with her separated husband and changed her will, leaving her interest to Lisa.
Son John's claim has so far been unsuccessful
The case went to court after Lisa demanded a compulsory sale of the property so she could pocket the estate.
But John tried to stop the move, insisting that the house was what his parents had promised to him and Lorraine.
John and Charlie told the judge that the agreement was not written on paper because it was a verbal promise sealed with a handshake.
"I promised Johnny. We're horse dealers, and if we shake hands, it's a deal," Charlie testified in court.
John said he had paid for the renovation of the house because he promised it would be his.
But dismissing the father-son case, the judge said: "It seems to me that there is no documentation to prove that the reason for the existence of the so-called 1984 agreement is that there is no such agreement." ”
The judge took Lisa's case that the inheritance was half her mother's, and she wanted her daughter to get her fair share.
He went on to order the sale of most of the estate, including Woodhouse.
Lisa also applied for a court order to sell a property called Pond Field House — where her father lived — or to collect rent from him.
The judge dealt with the matter by ordering that the sale of the home be put into effect "within a reasonable time after Charles's death," but ruled that he was entitled to live there rent-free for the remainder of his life.
He also ordered the return to Charlie of a series of precious chattels, including a Steinway grand piano, that had been removed from Pond Field House after Nora's death.
The court learned that regarding the Steinway piano, Charlie claimed that he bought the piano for his wife's 80th birthday "because she wanted him to learn the piano".
He insisted it was purchased with cash from their joint account and passed it on to him "through survivors" when she died. After Nora's death, the piano was removed by Lisa from the Pond Field House because it was her mother's will.
But Judge Lennon, by law, still owned the piano to Charlie because it was jointly owned by husband and wife.
He also ruled that other items, also removed from Pond Field House, including a set of expensive watches and three paintings, should be returned to Charlie