A woman who cut contact with her family part-way through an inheritance battle has been ordered by Jersey’s Royal Court to repay £100,000 in gifts she received from her mother before she died.
After two years of failing to engage with either the court or her siblings, leaving them unable to sell a jointly owned property abroad, Jacqueline Corinna Walker’s conduct was branded “unreasonable” by Master of the Royal Court David Cadin, who also ruled that she should pay her family’s legal costs.
The case centres on the estate of Janet Angela Walker, who died in January 2019.
In her 2014 will, she named Ms Walker as executrix and directed that her movable estate be shared equally among her children.
However, disputes quickly arose over lifetime gifts made to Ms Walker and allegations that she failed to administer the estate properly.
The three other siblings brought legal action in 2020, seeking her removal as executrix.
They also asked that pay back the value of significant gifts she had received from her mother during her lifetime – known in Jersey law as a ‘rapport à la masse’.
Over several hearings in 2021 and 2022, the Royal Court made a series of orders requiring Ms Walker to pay into court £61,255.98 and provide detailed documents about alleged loans she claimed to have made to the deceased.
When she failed to provide further information, a further £39,570.24 was added to the amount owed, taking the total value of the gifts to be repaid to £100,826.23.
Earlier this month, the matter was considered by Master of the Royal Court David Cadin.
In a sworn affidavit, one of Ms Walker’s brothers explained that he felt he was “in a position where I am unable to move the estate forward”.
“This is directly caused by the Defendant avoiding all contact; presumably so that she can hope to retain the money that the Court ordered her to account for to the estate,” he said.
The lack of contact had left the family unable to manage or sell a French holiday home forming part of the estate, as Ms Walker’s signature is required to be able to put it on the market, Advocate Cadin was told.
The brother also noted that although the property is worth €120,000, the estate has debts of at least £20,000 and only around £10,000 in accessible assets.
He also said that the family were unable to sort out the rest of their parents’ effects, because Ms Walker “is due an equal share and she is not in contact with us”.
He argued that a judgment in the siblings’ favour would “finally provide a way forward for dealing with our mother’s estate”.
Ms Walker did not appear in court to represent herself during the April hearing.
Advocate Giles Emmanuel had previously represented her but had had “no contact” with her since 2022 – though he did attend the hearing in April “as a courtesy”, Advocate Cadin noted.
Handing down his judgment, he said he agreed with the comments of previous Master of the Royal Court Matthew Thompson, who had said: “Without the documents being provided, a fair trial on whether the defendant did make loans to the deceased could not take place.
“It was therefore appropriate to make an order carrying the sanction if there was noncompliance by the defendant with the orders made previously.”
Having confirmed that Ms Walker should repay the value of the gifts received, Advocate Cadin went on to make an order that she cover her family’s costs in bringing the case to court.
The Master concluded: “In my judgment, the Defendant’s non-engagement with the Court and/or her Advocates and/or the Executors over a protracted period of time amounts to unreasonable conduct such that the Defendant should pay the costs incurred by the Plaintiffs and the former First Plaintiff, of and incidental to this application, to be taxed on an indemnity basis if not agreed.
“Unless otherwise ordered, I order that the Defendant pay the costs incurred by the Plaintiffs and the former First Plaintiff, of and incidental to these proceedings, to be taxed on a standard basis if not agreed.”