Family win £700k inheritance fight with mum’s boyfriend over forged will and fake wedding
Judge’s decision comes after ‘on-off’ boyfriend tried to claim fortune for himself
The family of a tragic mum have won a £700,000 court fight with her “toxic” boyfriend after he used a forged will and a fake wedding in a bid to get his hands on her fortune.
London cleaning company boss and mum of one Kassy Sinar was just 46 when she died of breast cancer in October 2023, leaving the whole of her £500,000 estate in trust for the benefit of her 16-year-old daughter, Jocey, in a will she made in 2022.
But after her death, her partner Cengiz Arif – Jocey’s dad – tried to claim his daughter’s money for himself, producing a document which he claimed was Sinar’s true last will, dated 10 May 2023, under which everything went to him.
He also claimed he and Sinar had been secretly married in Cyprus on 19 September 2006 without her close family knowing and went on to ban her relatives from attending Sinar’s funeral in London, despite him having deserted her and flown abroad as she lay on her deathbed.
But her brother Ernest Sinar – who, along with his wife Michelle, is now niece Jocey’s legal guardian – went on to sue on the family’s behalf, with a High Court judge now ruling that both the marriage certificate and the 2023 will put forward as evidence by Mr Arif were “forged”.
Chief Master Karen Shuman upheld the 2022 will leaving all of Sinar’s money in trust for her daughter, leaving Mr Arif with nothing, as well as ordering him to pay the estimated £206,000 costs run up by Ernest fighting the case.
The judge also stripped Mr Arif – who didn’t show up at court to defend the case – of his roles as executor of the 2022 will and trustee of the trust fund, and made an injunction banning him from dealing with or dissipating any of the properties or money in Kassy’s estate.
The court heard that Sinar, who ran her own cleaning business, was originally from Manchester but moved down to London, buying a property in Kimberley Gardens, Finsbury Park, and becoming involved in an on-off relationship with Mr Arif.
Jocey was born in 2009, but the couple then split between 2011 and 2018, with Sinar telling friends that she had refused his proposal of marriage and reporting that the relationship was “abusive and toxic”.
The couple got back together, but tragically Sinar was diagnosed with breast cancer and died in October 2023 in a hospice.
After her death, war broke out between her family, led by her Manchester-based brother Ernest and his wife, and Mr Arif, with the family holding their own memorial service for Sinar after Mr Arif banned them from her cremation in London.
Mr Arif then came forward with the supposed 2023 will, leaving all Sinar’s estate including her London home and a bolt hole house she had bought in Thurston Street, Burnley, worth £58,000, to him, and also began taking the rental income from the Finsbury Park property.
His claim that she had self-drafted and signed a shocking new will without informing her family or daughter was backed by another shock claim that the pair had secretly married in 2006 without her brother or any other of her friends or family having known.
It was only after Sinar’s death that Mr Arif claimed he was her husband, said the judge, adding that her brother Ernest’s suspicions were aroused and he had made enquiries with the Turkish authorities questioning the validity of the marriage certificate Mr Arif produced, only to be told that no wedding had taken place on the date claimed and that the registrar he named had not been working.
Turkish authorities confirmed that “the marriage is not legally valid”, the judge said.
“Nobody was aware that Kassy was allegedly married.
“I’m satisfied on the evidence that I have heard that this was an unhappy, toxic and abusive relationship.
“There is evidence of physical and emotional abuse.
“In her last weeks of life, he left her to travel to Cyprus for at least two weeks.
“She was never married to Cengiz, therefore he has adduced to the court a forged document.
“Cengiz produced in these proceedings a false document. He was never married to Kassy.
“I’m satisfied that the marriage certificate is a forged document.”
Moving on the to the wills, the judge said that Mr Arif had claimed the 2022 will was not valid due to amendments Sinar had made to it after it was initially drawn up and signed.
But the judge ruled that alterations had not made it void.
“There is nothing before me to impugn the behaviour of Ernest or his solicitors. I’m satisfied that the 2022 will was duly executed,” she said.
But she went on to find that the 2023 will produced by Mr Arif was a fake.
“The explanation Cengiz gave of how the 2023 will came to be prepared is preposterous. It is indeed incredible.
“There was very strong evidence that the signature was not Kassy’s,” she added, saying that a handwriting expert had said that the signature on it bore all the hallmarks of someone else trying to copy Sinar’s signature.
“It is inherently implausible that Cengiz’s case is correct. Had Kassy made the 2023 will, she would have told Ernest.
“I’m satisfied on the basis of the evidence that has been presented to me that the 2023 will was forged. The will relied on by Cengiz was not the last will of Kassy. I also find that the marriage certificate was a forged document.
“The 2023 will is a forgery. I’m satisfied that there has been fraud in this case.
“This is an estate that Kassy wanted to go to her daughter not her sometime partner and the father of her child.
“I therefore pronounce in favour of the 2022 will. In light of my findings it's quite clear that Cengiz should be removed forthwith as executor of the estate and trustee of the will trust,” the judge said.
The judge added that it is unclear exactly how much Sinar’s estate is worth, but that it ought to be over £500,000 with the value of her two properties added to “in excess of £35,000” in cash from the rental of the London property which has been going into a bank account controlled by Mr Arif.
“Cengiz’s conduct demonstrates a want of honesty and fidelity. I consider it both necessary and proportionate to restrain him from dealing with any estate assets.
“I’m very concerned that he has advance a case on the basis of a forged will supported by a forged marriage certificate and has ignored court orders.
“Given the forgery and level of fraud in this case... I’m deeply concerned that he will try to remove estate assets,” the judge said.
She made an order that Mr Arif’s bank disclose details of the rent payments to Ernest’s lawyers as well as freezing his ability to deal with Sinar’s cash and properties.
The judge went on to order Mr Arif to pay Ernest’s costs of the case, which his barrister Sarah Harrison said came to around £206,000.
The judge ordered an up front payment of £120,000 on account of those costs.
Verity Hudson, from Ernest’s solicitors Rothley Law said after the case:
“This was a complex and emotional case that required careful investigation. Having worked closely with the family since 2023, we’re so pleased to have helped secure the right outcome for them.”
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