PC: The Sun
How his family became part of his £250,000 inheritance plans
By the time Watts died aged 90 in 2021, Pope had become one of the most significant people in his life. He had changed his will, leaving her most of his estate, while also selling her his stamp collection for a nominal sum of £1. Madeline died in 1995. As reported by The Sun, in 1998, he married Fay Watts, who had three children from an earlier relationship: Beverley Neate, Mark Brennan and Sean Brennan. Fay died in 2011, leaving Watts with a family that included three biological children and three stepchildren. A will drawn up in 2007 reflected that family arrangement. In 2019, Watts was admitted to hospital after suffering a serious fall at home. Rather than distributing his estate equally among all six family members, the revised document provided £15,000 each for his three biological children and Neate. The estate was estimated to be worth approximately £250,000, with Watts’ share of the family home forming part of the assets. In 2020, another legal document, known as a codicil, was drawn up to amend the existing will. This reduced Neate’s inheritance from £15,000 to just £1. The transaction meant Pope stood to receive not only the majority of an estate valued at about £250,000 but also a collection whose potential market value was disputed.
A job advertised as household cleaning gradually developed into something quite different for Sue Pope. What began as paid work at the home of elderly stamp collector Ray Watts eventually involved looking after his daily needs, accompanying him to stamp fairs and helping with aspects of his personal life. The decision, however, became the subject of a family inheritance dispute. Watts had two marriages and a blended family. With his first wife, Madeline Watts, he had three children: Nicholas, Lesley and Deborah. It provided for his estate, including his share of the family property in Great Waldingfield, near Sudbury in Suffolk, to be divided equally among the six children and stepchildren. He had reportedly remained on the floor for several hours before being discovered. During this period, arrangements were made for a new will. The remainder was left to Pope. The changes did not end there. The difference between the two valuations became part of the wider family argument over the arrangements made before Watts’ death.
Neate subsequently challenged the 2019 will and the 2020 codicil at Central London County Court. Her case centred on whether Watts had fully understood and approved the documents that changed the distribution of his estate. Her legal team questioned his mental condition around the time the new will was prepared. They referred to his hospital admission and argued that he had been experiencing confusion, reduced consciousness and a slowing of his thought processes.