PAUL SAMUEL'S PARTNER AND DAUGHTER FIGHT OVER £10M ESTATE

The High Court has heard a dispute between mountaineer Paul Samuel's partner and daughter over his estate, reported to be worth £10 million, more than eight years after his death. Mr Samuel died in June 2018 when an avalanche struck him and two fellow climbers on Alpamayo, a peak in the Peruvian Andes. His will directed that the estate be divided roughly equally between his partner, Ana Lesiak Samuel, and his daughter, Kate Samuel, from a previous relationship, the court heard. Judge Master Francesca Kaye is being asked to resolve the deadlock, after accounts described relations between the two women as "difficult" and "tense", following claims that Ana Lesiak Samuel refused to let Kate Samuel's mother attend Mr Samuel's memorial. Anna Unett, the lawyer appointed to administer the estate, has also been drawn into the disagreements.

Mr Samuel was a businessman and entrepreneur whose past expeditions included crossing the South China Sea by boat, trekking through the Borneo jungle and climbing Mount Everest. Alpamayo, where he died, is regarded as one of the most striking peaks in the Andes, rising to around 20,000ft within Huascarán National Park, part of the Cordillera Blanca range. The climb was intended to be his final mountain expedition. Eva Zontar, a Slovenian climber, and Jamie Quintana Figueroa, a Peruvian guide, also died in the avalanche.

More than 300 people gathered at the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington, London, in November 2018 to mark Mr Samuel's life. His estate reportedly includes Bank Farm, near Whitchurch in Shropshire, valued at £780,000. The court is expected to decide how the estate is finally divided between his partner and his daughter. No date for a ruling has been reported.