Lawyer 'would not have left children out of will'

The former wife of a wealthy lawyer told a court she could not believe he would have made a will leaving nothing of his multimillion-pound estate to herself or her children.

The former wife of a wealthy lawyer told a court she could not believe he would have made a will leaving nothing of his multimillion-pound estate to herself or her children.

Gloria Sherrington was giving evidence yesterday in the High Court during a case that aims to have the will that left everything to Richard Sherrington's second wife, Yvonne, declared invalid.

Yvonne was in court yesterday as Gloria told Mr Justice Lightman that her former husband was "a man of honour who believed in his obligations". Paul Teverson, representing Yvonne, asked her whether she believed Mr Sherrington had been forced to make the will. She replied: "Force is too strong, but I feel in some way there was pressure. I don't believe that a man of his experience, a man who loved his children so dearly, that he would have put their future at risk."

Mr Justice Lightman was told that Mr Sherrington's estate was worth £7m. The challenge to the validity of the will was brought by the three children of Gloria and Richard, who have each received more than £50,000 from insurance policies since the death of their father aged 56 in a road accident in 2001. The hearing continues.