Wednesday, December 3, 2025 - A mother of two is locked in a legal battle with her stepmother after being left out of her late father’s £1.75 million estate in the UK.
Emma McDaniel, 40, is asking the High Court for “reasonable
financial provision” from the estate of her father, Mark Talbot, who died in
October 2022. Mark, a property investor who became a millionaire, had cut Emma
out of his 2014 will, stating he had not seen her for 20 years.
Despite that, the court heard that in 2019, the pair
reconnected at the request of Mark’s mother and went on to rebuild a
relationship, even holidaying together at his villa in Portugal. Emma is now
challenging the will, arguing that their renewed relationship and her
circumstances entitle her to support.
Mark left his entire estate to his wife of 36 years,
Rosemary Talbot. His will stated: “I DECLARE that I have NOT made any provision
in my Will for my son Rhys Winstone whom I have never met nor my daughter Emma
Winstone who I last saw about twenty years ago. I do not have contact with
either of them.”
Emma, who cares for two disabled children and has several
health conditions of her own, said she now survives on a “complicated cocktail”
of state benefits, supplemented by around £5,000 a year from her small
business. She told the court she hoped to secure funds to buy a suitably
adapted home and clear roughly £50,000 in debts.
Her lawyer, Aiden O’Brien, told the judge: “The claimant’s
husband also suffers from heart and spinal problems. Unfortunately, the
claimant also has her own health issues, including spinal problems, autism,
ADHD, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and burn-out.”
He said Emma and her family rely on support including
Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Child Benefit and Disability
Living Allowance, adding: “Emma avers that there is sufficient ‘head room’ to
make an order in her favour, without causing any injustice to Rosemary.”
He contrasted this with Rosemary, saying: “In stark contrast
to the claimant, Rosemary has confirmed that she is in relatively good health
and has no disabilities.”
However, Rosemary’s barrister, George Woodhead, argued that
the will should stand and Emma should receive nothing. He said Emma was not
financially dependent on her father and noted that Mark had not supported her
during his lifetime. Woodhead argued that Mark had also made clear he did not
intend to leave anything to any of his children, including those he shared with
Rosemary.
He further told the court that the estate reflected the
“joint efforts” of the couple, saying Mark’s focus on business had “stopped
Rosemary’s earning ability” and effectively formed her “pension.”
Woodhead told Emma that “Mark’s death had no impact
whatsoever on your resources,” to which she replied: “I wouldn’t agree with
that.”
Emma became emotional as she spoke about the effect of her
father’s death, telling the judge: “It impacted my ability to work. It’s
difficult to quantify. The grief was complex and it continues to be complex.
It’s impacted my anxiety, fear for my own health and what that means.”
She added: “I spent a really long time working very hard to
prove that I was good enough. In many ways, his death took away my purpose. I
didn’t have long enough to recover from my dad not being in my life and feeling
not worthy to him being gone again.”
Judgment will be delivered at a later date following the
two-day hearing.
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