A mother of two is locked in a legal battle with her stepmother after being left out of her late fathers 1.75 million estate in the UK. Emma McDaniel, 40, is asking the High Court for reasonable financial provision from the estate of her father, Mark Talbot, who died in October 2022. Mark, a property investor who became a millionaire, had cut Emma out of his 2014 will, stating he had not seen her for 20 years. Despite that, the court heard that in 2019, the pair reconnected at the request of Marks mother and went on to rebuild a relationship, even holidaying together at his villa in Portugal. Emma is now challenging the will, arguing that their renewed relationship and her circumstances entitle her to support. Mark left his entire estate to his wife of 36 years, Rosemary Talbot. His will stated: I DECLARE that I have NOT made any provision in my Will for my son Rhys Winstone whom I have never met nor my daughter Emma Winstone who I last saw about twenty years ago. I do not have contact with either of them. Emma, who cares for two disabled children and has several health conditions of her own, said she now survives on a complicated cocktail of state benefits, supplemented by around 5,000 a year from her small business. She told the court she hoped to secure funds to buy a suitably adapted home and clear roughly 50,000 in debts. Her lawyer, Aiden OBrien, told the judge: The claimants husband also suffers from heart and spinal problems. Unfortunately, the claimant also has her own health issues, including spinal problems, autism, ADHD, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and burn-out. He said Emma and her family rely on support including Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Child Benefit and Disability Living Allowance, adding: Emma avers that there is sufficient head room to make an order in her favour, without causing any injustice to Rosemary. He contrasted this with Rosemary, saying: In stark contrast to the claimant, Rosemary has confirmed that she is in relatively good health and has no disabilities. However, Rosemarys barrister, George Woodhead, argued that the will should stand and Emma should receive nothing. He said Emma was not financially dependent on her father and noted that Mark had not supported her during his lifetime. Woodhead argued that Mark had also made clear he did not intend to leave anything to any of his children, including those he shared with Rosemary. He further told the court that the estate reflected the joint efforts of the couple, saying Marks focus on business had stopped Rosemarys earning ability and effectively formed her pension. Woodhead told Emma that Marks death had no impact whatsoever on your resources, to which she replied: I wouldnt agree with that. Emma became emotional as she spoke about the effect of her fathers death, telling the judge: It impacted my ability to work. Its difficult to quantify. The grief was complex and it continues to be complex. Its impacted my anxiety, fear for my own health and what that means. She added: I spent a really long time working very hard to prove that I was good enough. In many ways, his death took away my purpose. I didnt have long enough to recover from my dad not being in my life and feeling not worthy to him being gone again. Judgment will be delivered at a later date following the two-day hearing.
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