Wills, Trusts & Estates News
Georgian billionaire leaves widow and his business partner to squabble over £6 billion fortune as no will made - James Wallace
The recently reported story about exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky fighting the widow of his closest friend for half of the dead man's £6 billion fortune provides a stark illustration of the importance of making a will.
The squabble began 12 months after the death of Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili, who died unexpectedly last February after announcing that he would stand for the Georgian presidency. Berezovsky, the business partner of Patarkatsishvili for 20 years, claims that he is entitled to half of the deceased's assets whilst the deceased's wife, Ina Gudavadze, insists that the pair in fact split their business interests long before her husband died.
Gudavadze, who is represented by Lord Goldsmith, the former attorney-general, agreed to sign a statement the day after her husband's death confirming that half of her husband's assets belonged to Berezovsky but she has since changed her mind and is seeking to have the document annulled.
Matters were further complicated after Joseph Kay, a step-cousin of Patarkatsishvili, claimed that he was an executor in the estate and part of the fortune belonged to him. Kay has been accused by both Gudavadze and Berezovsky of fraud and the forgery of a number of documents. There has also been the emergence of a woman named Olga Safonova, who claims that she married Patarkatsishvili in 1997 and bore him a son.
Patarkatsishvili does not appear to have made a will and Berezovsky has now requested a London court to appoint an independent executor to establish how the assets should be divided.
If you would like advice with regards to making a will or would like to renew an existing will then please contact a member of our Wills, Trusts & Estates team on 0151 647 9381.
You can read the full article on the Times website, click here.
James Wallace
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