TWO WIVES DISPUTE £1.8M ESTATE OF BIGAMOUS ACCOUNTANT

Two women locked in a court dispute over the estate of James Dinsdale, a wealthy accountant and Second World War history expert, have heard the fortune may have been substantially depleted. Dinsdale died of cancer aged 55 in October 2020. He had married dentist Dr Victoria Fowell in Las Vegas in 2012 but never divorced her. Five years later in 2017, he married beautician Margaret Dinsdale in another Las Vegas ceremony whilst still legally married to Dr Fowell, rendering the second marriage void.

Mrs Dinsdale discovered the bigamy only after her husband's death when sorting his affairs. Under intestacy law, Dr Fowell held the legal claim to Dinsdale's £1.8m estate as his surviving spouse. Mrs Dinsdale subsequently brought a claim under the Inheritance Act after a judge formally recognised her legal rights as a spouse last July. The dispute centred on Dinsdale's property development business, which operated across London and Hertfordshire. Both women accused each other of depleting the estate's value during the legal proceedings.

The case returned to London's High Court recently, where Dr Fowell stepped down as estate executor. According to the court, the estate's value, originally worth £1.8m, could now hold a negative value. The women traded accusations regarding the depletion of assets during their ongoing dispute over inheritance rights.