Family fails in £10m will challenge

A judge held that Golda "Goldie" Bechal, despite her failing memory, appreciated the effect of her August 1994 will in which she left almost her entire fortune to her long-standing "best friends", Kim Sing Man and his wife Bee Lian Man.

The court rejected a challenge by her five nephews and nieces - Sandra Blackman, Barbara Green, Laurence Lebor, Louise Barnard and Mervyn Lebor - who claimed they were entitled to inherit her estate.

Mr and Mrs Man and Mrs Bechal's nieces Sandra and Louise were in court to hear the judge, Sir Donald Rattee, declare: "In my judgment, on the balance of probabilities, Mrs Bechal had testamentary capacity. The will executed by Mrs Bechal in August 1994 was valid."

Mrs Bechal died in January 2004, aged 88, leaving a portfolio of commercial properties.

Mr and Mrs Man, of Aragon Road, Great Leighs, Chelmsford, Essex, owners of the Lian restaurant in Witham, Essex, had been friends of Mrs Bechal and her late husband Simon for many years.

The judge accepted their evidence that Mrs Bechal, sad and lonely after the death of her husband and the death of her son Peter at the age of 28, became almost part of their family.

They went on foreign holidays with her and there were regular get-togethers at their restaurant and at her flat in Mayfair, central London. Mr Man visited her whenever he was in London to buy restaurant supplies.

Recalling his friendship with Mrs Bechal, Mr Man said she was "an upper-class posh lady" who always dressed well because her appearance meant a lot to her. But she "always enjoyed her Chinese pickled leeks and bean sprouts, which I bought for her".

He and his wife, who have three children, denied there were any "suspicious circumstances" surrounding the making of the will. The judge accepted they played no part when Mrs Bechal filled in a will form, supplied by Barclays Bank, or when the will was drawn up by the bank and executed.