Boss of 300-year-old global business empire in feud with his sister

Boss of 300-year-old global business empire is locked in bitter feud with his sister over £28million fortune after she accused him of exploiting their mother’s dementia

  • Jane Griffin, 63,  is involved in a legal battle with brother Constantine Folkes, 65 
  • Feud concerns £28.7m estate left by their mother Patricia Folkes before she died 
  • Ms Griffin says brother pressured mother into leaving money for him and his son

A wealthy family named on the Sunday Times Rich List are embroiled in a bitter court battle over a £28.7 million inheritance.  

The Folkes family, whose ancestral home is Stourton Hall in Staffordshire, are involved in a long-running feud over the will of their mother Patricia Folkes, who died in 2014 aged 85. 

Her daughter Jane Griffin, 63, accuses her elder brother Constantine Folkes, 65, of exploiting their mother’s dementia and pressuring her into handing £26.5 million plus £100,000 of jewellery to him and his son. 

She alleges that Mr Folkes wanted to ensure his son Samson would inherit the 300-year-old family business and become the ninth generation of Folkes men to lead it

In 2008 the family, who run Folkes Holdings, featured on the Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of £106 million.

Jane Griffin, 63, (left with mother Patricia Folkes)and elder brother Constantine Folkes, 65, are embroiled in a long-running court battle over the £28.7million inheritance left by their mother

Ms Griffin alleges Mr Folkes (above with wife Angela and daughter Amy) exploited their mother’s dementia and pressured her into handing money to him and son

The bitter feud began when Ms Griffin discovered that her mother’s estate had been reduced to £2.2 million when she died and she was left £50,000.

Ms Griffin, who has two children and lives near the family estate, said: ‘I felt my mother had been let down. Money was not the driver for me. I wanted justice.’

She also accused her elder brother of subjecting their mother to ‘financial abuse’.


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However Mr Folkes, who is the head of Folkes Holdings, denies any wrong doing and claims his sister is ‘rather unhinged’.

The father-of-three, who lives in Stourton Hall, said: ‘It appears Jane felt this was a gamble worth taking.

‘If my mother were alive today she would be livid to see this turn of events, with the three esteemed professionals she chose over many years being cast aside for someone she had never met.’

He claimed that much of the estate had been squandered on unnecessary legal costs.

Patricia Folkes was diagnosed with dementia in 2010 after suffering from memory loss for some years, and died in 2014 at the age of 85. 

However the father-of-three (right with son Samson), who lives in Stourton Hall, denies the claims and said: ‘It appears Jane felt this was a gamble worth taking’

When she discovered that the estate’s value had been reduced to £2.2 million Ms Griffin pursued a legal battle, claiming that without her older brother’s influence, the value would have been £28.7 million.

The dispute over the family fortune began in 1991, when Patricia and her husband John drew up wills.

These shared their wealth equally between their three children – Constantine, Jane and James. 

Stourton Hall (pictured), near Stourbridge, is home to Ms Griffin’s brother  Constantine Folkes 

However in March 1993 Patricia’s will was changed after a suggestion from Mr Folkes to leave all her shares in the family business to Samson, then aged one.

Ms Griffin, then living in Los Angeles, was removed as executor of the will.

In July 2011 Patricia, who by now had been diagnosed with dementia, signed a letter prepared by her solicitor.

It said she had given belongings including works by the wildlife painter Charles Tunnicliffe, silver tea caddies and the contents of a gun room, plus all the fixtures and fittings in Stourton Hall, to Constantine.

A month later Patricia signed another document, which Ms Griffin had drawn up, confirming that the contents of Stourton Hall and her second home in Anglesey were still part of her estate – and had not yet been handed to Mr Folkes.

When she died in 2014, the family’s solicitors acted as executors of the will and the value of her estate dwindled from about £28.7 million to £2.2 million.

At this point Ms Griffin issued a court claim to remove the executors, demanding an investigation of why her mother’s estate was now so small and where items that she had been promised had gone.

The judge said the dispute had been ‘extremely bitter, long-running and costly’.

He dismissed 12 of the 17 allegations made by Jane, but said the rest required investigation by the new executors.

Mr Folkes and the other defendants were ordered to pay costs of at least £150,000.

The Folkes family solicitors will be replaced as executors of Patricia’s will as a result of a court case, which ended this month.

The new executors will be responsible for collecting his mother’s assets, paying debts and distributing legacies.

The family business, Folkes Holdings, has extensive property, investment, tourism and engineering interests in Britain and South Africa and is based in Stourbridge, near Stourton Hall.

 

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