Negus v Bahouse

The lover of a wealthy business man who committed suicide before fulfilling a promise to marry her on the QM2 has won a High Court battle with his family over his £3 million estate.

Multimillionaire Henry Bahouse and former dental nurse Cyd Negus had a ‘flamboyant lifestyle’ before his death in 2005. His Will didn’t provide for 50-year-old Ms Negus, who therefore claimed for financial provision to be made for the rest of her life from his estate.

Mr Bahouse’s family contested the claim, arguing that Ms Negus had already received the proceeds of a life assurance policy, taken out by Mr Bahouse for her benefit, and a half share in a Spanish property. Together, these were worth in excess of £600,000. According to Ms Negus, she and Mr Bahouse were intending to get married and even hoped to start a family.

According to Mr Bahouse’s family, the couple were on the verge of breaking up and Mr Bahouse had no intention of marrying Ms Negus.

In the view of Deputy High Court Judge Roger Kaye QC, they had lived together as husband and wife and she and had a reasonable basis for believing that her future financial needs would be met by Mr Bahouse. He awarded Ms Negus the ownership of the flat she had shared with Mr Bahouse (valued at approximately £400,000) and a lump sum of £240,000. The balance of the estate, worth about £2m, went to Mr Bahouse’s family – mainly to his son Gordon.

Alan Porter of The Will Centre said, “The case raises some interesting points. The first and most obvious is that this kind of stress and heartache could be avoided if people make a Will and keep it up to date. That way they can ensure their estate is divided according to their wishes. The other point is that it is possible in certain circumstances to successfully challenge a Will if a person feels their reasonable expectations to inherit have not been met, using the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 as amended.”