British-Sikh widow wins legal battle in London High Court to get half of husband's estate left to 2 sons

A British-Sikh woman in the United Kingdom has won a legal battle to get a 50% share of her late husband's estate. In his will, Karnail Singh left his estate worth around £1.2 million to his two sons.

Karnail's wife 83-year-old Harbans Kaur challenged the will and won the battle in the London High Court. The court said that Karnail Singh did not make reasonable provision for his wife of 66 years, despite her "full and equal" contribution to the marriage and the family business.

"I am satisfied that a) the deceased's estate did not make reasonable provision for C [Claimant Harbans Kaur]; b) C should receive 50 per cent of the net value of the estate, and the disposition of the estate affected by the will should be varied to that effect,” Justice Peel concluded.

He also directed that a sum of 20,000 pounds should be “forthwith paid to the claimant” from the estate by way of monies on account of final distribution to her and her legal costs should also be met out of the estate, deducted from the gross value of the estate before an equal division.

The judgment follows a hearing in the family division of the High Court earlier this month, which heard that Karnail Singh passed away in August 2021 and under a will dated back to June 2005, the estate was left in equal shares to their two sons.

(With PTI inputs)