Psychic poet sues sister over father’s £450,000 will in bitter family inheritance dispute

Psychic poet sues sister over father’s £450,000 will in bitter family inheritance dispute He claims that his father was too ‘mentally confused’ to draw up a will - Bookmark A psychic poet is embroiled in a legal battle over his late father's £450,000 will, which saw him and his other siblings cut out in favour of his younger sister and her daughter. Gary Pammen, also known as Gary Allen or "The Cockney Bard", is an author, poet, and philosopher who has appeared on the BBC, Sky, and ITV. He has penned collections of transcendental poetry, claiming the verse was psychically channelled into his thoughts by mysterious spirits from another place or time. Gary's father, Terrance Pammen, died aged 83 in May 2022, leaving an estate valued at £451,840. This largely comprised his £440,000 house in Church Street, Stratford, east London. Despite having five children, Terrance bequeathed the house and all remaining cash solely to his daughter, Tracy Pammen, and her daughter, Paige Pammen. The psychic, who believes he has powers of healing and second sight and has spoken of his ability to produce "inspired" writings from an unknown source, has now gone to court. He is challenging the validity of Terrance’s 2016 will, claiming that his father was too "mentally confused" to legally draw up or understand it. Gary is asking Judge Simon Monty to declare the will invalid, arguing that his father lacked the necessary "testamentary capacity" and did not "know and approve" its contents. But the will’s validity is being defended by Tracy and daughter Paige, who insist that independent-minded Terrance was “totally sharp” when he drew up the will and had firm views about how he wanted to leave his estate. The Plaistow-born poet, representing himself against his sister and niece, told Central London County Court the 2016 will “completely disinherited” Terrance’s children and grandchildren, apart from Tracy and Paige, beyond the gift of “a few worthless chattels”. Excluded from everything of monetary value in the will alongside Gary were his other siblings Mark, Jacqueline and Gemma, none of whom are parties in the litigation. Gary also pointed out that the will made no provision for one of his grandsons, who is vulnerable due to Down’s Syndrome and was much loved by his grandfather. And in cutting out Tracy and Gary’s brother, Mark, who was living under the same roof as Terrance, he had left his son facing the threat of homelessness after his death. Gary, 65, who lives in Norfolk but spoke to his dad every day by phone, said outside court that he loved his father and always got on with him, and that there was no clear reason for him to be disinherited. In his claim to the court, he claimed that Terrance lacked a sound mind when the will was drawn up, alleging that it was written “when the deceased was suffering from documented cognitive and progressive impairment, alongside profound confusion regarding his family relations and the extent of his estate”. He claims Tracy – who he says he “still loves despite everything that’s gone on” – “raided” their dad’s bank accounts in his final years, an allegation which she and her lawyers dismissed as nonsense. But defending the will, Tracy pointed out that her father was still working sorting out shopping trolleys at Morrisons when he made his will - and carried on doing so for up to three years afterwards. And brushing aside Gary’s accusations, her barrister, Tom Gosling, said there were “no real doubts” about Terrance’s ability to grasp what he was doing when he initiated the will-drafting process in 2016 – with no involvement from any family member. Expert evidence from a psychiatrist had also confirmed that Terrance was of sound mind, said the barrister. And while accepting that Terrance was ultimately diagnosed with dementia in 2020, he displayed no signs of a failing memory until 2017 or 2018, said Mr Gosling. “The will represents the culmination of considered and deliberate independent thought and effort on the part of the deceased,” he told the court. “He independently managed his own financial affairs and he understood the extent of his property in that he was able to independently and accurately recall and report...the property, a single bank account and its balance. “The deceased was able to appreciate the claims of potential beneficiaries on his estate in that he recalled the names of each of the children, dates of birth, addresses and the fact that each of them had children and their approximate ages. “There is no explanation offered or evidential basis advanced by Gary as to the existence of any additional claims by which it is said Terrance should have or was bound to give greater provision in favour of Gary or the other children.“ Terrance had “lived independently” at home until the last year of his life, said the barrister, cooked his own food, handled his own finances and “worked as a trolley assistant as Morrisons Supermarket each morning, five days a week, until June 2019”. Gary, however, suggested his dad was mentally vulnerable around the time he made his will and further claimed that Tracy “raided” Terrance’s bank account in his final years, leaving a gaping hole in his purse. “You say that money went missing from his account and you think that it was Tracy and Paige - or just Tracy - who stole it,” said Judge Monty as he sketched out Gary’s case in court. Under cross-examination by her older brother, Tracy insisted in the witness box that their father was consistently mentally sharp until his final years, living independently until February 2022 when he suffered a stroke. “I don’t agree that he had confusion,” she told the court, adding that she had gone round to visit him daily for stints of up to three hours and took him on shopping and social trips. And rejecting claims that she plundered her dad’s finances, Tracy added that the only thing she ever did was to use his bank card to buy essentials such as toiletries for him. Tracy's daughter Paige Pammen echoed her claim that her grandfather was clear-minded when he made his will, explaining that the avid horse racing fan was happy looking after himself and watching classic movies on TV - also having the occasional “flutter” with a maximum £3 bet. “Until shortly before he died he was doing everything for himself,” she told the court. Questioned by Gary about why Terrance would have cut out four of his children as well as his vulnerable grandson, Paige replied: “He knew that he would be cared for by us; that’s why he left all this to me and my mother because he knew we would be responsible for him.” The judge has now reserved his ruling in the case to be given at a later date.