This week the High Court threw out a claim by Anne Lettice (70) that the £105,000 left to her by her mother Margaret (who died in April 2019 aged 99) was insufficient to meet her reasonable financial needs. 

In another case highlighting the perils encountered when families fight over money, Anne had asked the court to award her a greater share of her mother's estate at the expense of her five siblings and their children. Anne claimed that she had been her mother's carer for 17 years, and needed sufficient funds to establish her in a two-bedroom flat in her retirement. 

On Tuesday, the judge dismissed Anne's claim, saying that she had exaggerated her financial needs, had not answered legitimate questions about her job as a church minister and had not (as she claimed) in fact played a substantial role in caring for her mother. 

Although solicitors were involved in helping Anne at the outset of her claim, Anne acted herself at the trial. Perhaps, with the benefit of some legal advice, this case might have been settled rather than fought to its disastrous conclusion at court - Anne will almost certainly be worse off now than she was when the claim started, given the likely costs order that would follow her claim being thrown out.