Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott is suing a firm of solicitors over a £2.5 million mansion he purchased with a former lover. The property, located in Sandbanks, Dorset, overlooks Poole Harbour and boasts its own private beach. Mr. Boycott bought the property with his partner, Anne Wyatt, for £450,000 in 1996. When Mrs. Wyatt died in 2009, half of the mansion contributed to her estate as opposed to being inherited by Boycott, as he had expected.
Mrs. Wyatt is believed to have bequeathed her half of the house to her niece. Mr. Boycott is now suing lawyers for compensation over claims that Mrs. Wyatt should have been able to remain in the house only during her lifetime and, on her death, he should have automatically inherited the house.
When the mansion was purchased, both Mrs. Wyatt and Mr. Boycott were listed as “joint tenants”. Mr. Boycott claimed that he was hugely surprised to discover that Mrs. Wyatt had converted the agreement to a “tenancy in common” in 2007, effectively enabling her to bequeath half of the property to her heirs. Mr. Boycott claims that he would not have purchased the property if he had known that Mrs. Wyatt could later have severed her interest in that house. Mr. Boycott described Mrs. Wyatt as a “friend and confidante’” and had let her remain in the mansion free from rent for years following their divorce. Mr. Boycott’s lawyers deny any liability.
The housing solicitors at Duncan Lewis are experts at resolving housing disputes. The department regularly represents their clients in court.