Four daughters of an eccentric forest recluse have defeated their ‘domineering’ aunt in a legal fight over his £1million fortune.

Michael Gwilliam died at 79 in February 2022, after living in Gloucestershire’s ‘rural, ancient and somewhat secluded’ Forest of Dean, a court heard.

That was where he worked as a farmer and antiques dealer and indulged a passion for doing up classic cars.

Mr Gwilliam, described in court as ‘a true son of the Forest of Dean’, was an eccentric but popular local character who ‘lived in his overalls and wellies’ and enjoyed a ‘harmonious’ relationship with his daughters until 2013.

Yet after the age of 71, his mental health rapidly deteriorated to a point where he believed he was ‘under siege’ in his rural home.

He was described as forming ‘irrational’ suspicions about his neighbours as well as his own four children.

Mr Gwilliam had up to that point never made a will, because he knew his estate – estimated by lawyers as worth up to £1million – would go to his daughters automatically on intestacy, a court in Bristol was told.

But after his death, his four daughters – Helen Ginger, Georgina Charles, Emily Gwilliam and Caroline Gwilliam – were shocked to discover he made a will in 2014 which only left them 25 per cent of his estate between them.

Michael Gwilliam with (left to right) Helen Ginger, Georgina Charles and Emily Gwilliam

The late Michael Gwilliam’s sister Sheila Gwilliam (pictured) has been ruled against by a court

Their aunt, vintage clothing shop owner Sheila Gwilliam, 81 – described as ‘domineering’ by Caroline – had been handed 25 per cent in her own right.

Another 15 per cent went to her son Robert Mickleburgh, with another 25 per cent going to Mr Gwilliam’s friend Joan Brooks, while the rest was split between other relatives.

Attached to Michael’s 2014 will was a ‘letter of wishes’ spelling out his reasons for leaving his children just a fragment of his estate.

He claimed they had plotted to get him sectioned, alleging they ‘rifled my home, stealing prints, china and antiques’.

The daughters later went to court seeking to get the will overturned, arguing that their father was not in his right mind and that their aunt Sheila along with Joan had tried to persuade him to disinherit them.

Now after a trial at the High Court in Bristol, Judge Leslie Blohm has ruled in their favour.

He found Mr Gwilliam was suffering from ‘an insane delusion’ probably caused by a stroke when the will was drawn up.

The judge said: ‘Michael’s medical records indicate that he had suffered some defect in his brain, likely a stroke.

A judge has ruled that Michael Gwilliam (pictured) was suffering from ‘an insane delusion’ probably caused by a stroke when his will was drawn up

‘In the absence of a defect of the brain, it is difficult to explain such a complete volte face towards his children.

‘The cause of these delusions was late onset schizophrenia caused by organic disorder of the brain.

‘I find that had Michael not been suffering from such insane delusions, he would have made no will at all, both because he wished to benefit all of his daughters equally and because he disliked the idea of making a will.

‘I conclude that both Sheila and Joan intended to induce Michael to make a will that was less favourable to his children.

‘I consider that it is likely that, but for the intervention of Sheila and Joan, Michael would not in fact have made a will at all. Michael’s purported will is void for want of testamentary capacity.’

The court heard that until 2013 his relationship with his children was good, but after that point his mental health unravelled and he began harbouring suspicions about his daughters and some of his neighbours in the village of Awre, close to the banks of the River Severn.

When Michael was temporarily sectioned in February 2014 following concerns he had produced an air rifle at home ‘to show that he could defend himself if necessary’ and his apparent ‘persecutory and paranoid thoughts’, he accused his daughters of ‘locking him up for their own mercenary purposes’.

Joan had during this period told him that Helen, a senior nurse, was ‘evil’, the judge said – adding that the daughters wanted to sell his farm ‘for their own personal advantage’. 

Seen here is Michael Gwilliam’s former home at New House Farm in Gloucestershire

Michael Gwilliam is pictured with his daughters (left to right) Georgina Charles, Helen Ginger, Caroline Gwilliam and Emily Gwilliam

Sheila and Joan denied that Mr Gwilliam was ‘at any time delusional’ and claimed his will was valid, insisting he had solid grounds for his suspicions about his daughters.

The judge highlighted evidence from one witness who testified about Michael’s state of mind in the year he made his will and described him as having grown ‘shaking, frightened and timid’ – complaining about a dead neighbour harassing him, his cars being vandalised and believing he was ‘under siege at home’.

For most of his life, Michael had enjoyed a ‘close and loving’ relationship with his offspring, the court heard, and until 2014 had consistently declined to make a will as he believed his four girls ‘would inherit anyway’, the judge said.

Mr Blohm found both Sheila Gwilliam and Joan Brook had made a series of derogatory statements to Mr Gwilliam about his daughters, ‘intending to induce Michael to make a will that was less favourable to his daughters’.

Both were present when Michael’s will was drafted by solicitors, the judge noted, adding: ‘Although I consider it likely that Sheila was the prime mover in causing Michael to make his will, it is evident that Joan was an associate in this regard.’

The judge said Joan and Sheila really believed that Mr Gwilliam ‘had a factual basis for the concerns that he had’ about his daughters.

The two women claimed the sisters had ‘taken advantage of an opportunity to falsely present Michael to mental health professionals for the purpose of having him sectioned, so that they might obtain his property and control his life for their own avaricious financial advantage’.

Relations became so icy when Mr Gwilliam died that Sheila barred the daughters from attending their father’s funeral in Bath, near her home, and the sisters instead held a memorial service for him locally.

Michael Gwilliam and daughters (left to right) Helen Ginger, Georgina Charles, Caroline Gwilliam and Emily Gwilliam – a court has now ruled in his daughters’ favour

The sisters alleged their aunt claimed they had stolen items from their dad’s home while he was locked up and that there was a plot against him to get him sectioned.

Sheila, who took Michael into her home in Bath after he could no longer cope on his own, admitted making those statements, but denied believing they were false.

Joan was likewise accused of fraudulent calumny over a series of statements, including telling Michael that his daughter was evil.

The sisters’ barrister Joss Knight argued that Joan ‘had sought to ostracise Michael from his daughters for the purpose of persuading him to execute a will’.

The judge found that Joan had told Michael his daughters were ‘all bad news’, that she had told him Helen was evil and that Helen ‘wanted all of his money’.

But although saying that Sheila particularly was motivated by a wish to thwart the four siblings from inheriting, he rejected the fraudulent calumny case against both her and Joan.

He did so on the basis that back in 2014 both women genuinely believed that the sisters were trying to have Michael sectioned ‘for their own financial gain’.

He concluded: ‘The statements were in my view made for the purpose of inducing Michael to make a will that disinherited his daughters.

Michael Gwilliam died at 79 in February 2022, after living in Gloucestershire’s ‘rural, ancient and somewhat secluded’ Forest of Dean, a court heard

‘I have no doubt that Joan and in particular Sheila considered that the claimants did not deserve to inherit, and that part of the purpose of their making of these statements to Michael was to induce him to deal with his assets in a manner that prevented his children from benefiting from them.’

In his ruling, the judge found that Michael’s daughters had not wanted him sectioned, but had considered it in his ‘best interests’ that it happen and that he be ‘appropriately treated and assisted.’

‘Michael’s daughters were acting in what they perceived to be Michael’s best interests,’ he added.

‘That is the opposite of being evil, mercenary or bad news.’

The judge’s ruling that Michael died intestate – without a valid will – means his four daughters as next of kin will inherit his wealth, which has been estimated by lawyers at up to £1million.