The step-daughters of an elderly couple found dead together at home are at war and must prove whose parent died first to grab a £300,000 inheritance in the first case of its kind in Britain for 70 years.
Anna Winter and Deborah Cutler have gone to the High Court to fight over the house and cash left by John Scarle, 79, and his wife Ann, 69, after they perished in Leigh-on-Sea in October 2016 days after their 26th wedding anniversary.
Mr and Mrs Scarle were found dead of hypothermia in their Essex bungalow after worried neighbours called in the police having not seen them for several days.
Their children from previous marriages have asked a judge to decide whose parent died first so they can secure the inheritance worth more than a quarter of a million pounds.
Ms Winter and Ms Cutler are using evidence from neighbours who saw their parents last, opened post found inside the house including cards for their 26th wedding anniversary in October 2016 and the condition of their bodies when discovered.
If Mr Scarle died first then his wife would have briefly inherited his share of the £300,000 inheritance – meaning Mrs Scarle’s child Deborah Cutler would be next in line.
But if Mrs Scarle perished first then Mr Scarle’s daughter Anna Winter should receive the nest egg, the High Court heard.
The highly unusual case is the first of its kind in the UK since the 1950s – but were more common during the Second World War to settle inheritance disputes when families were all killed by the same bomb during the London Blitz.
They were found dead of hypothermia on the evening of October 11, with the property in disarray. It had been targeted by vandals or burglars, with windows broken and a door left ajar.
Mr Weale said it is likely that at least one of them was alive on October 7 – the date of their 26th wedding anniversary – because a card sent by Mrs Cutler was found opened.
But he said there was no evidence on which it could safely be concluded which of the tragic pair succumbed to hypothermia first.
‘There is no direct evidence from any witness which sheds any light on the date or time on which either John or Ann died,’ he said.
