Jobyna Watts
(Picture: Champion News)A former West End cabaret star is locked in a legal battle with her son over claims she forged her husband’s will to collect his £8 million fortune.
Jobyna Watts, 92, inherited her Calypso king husband Eustace Watts’s estate when he died in 2008, while their son Carlton did not receive anything from the will.
Carlton, 64, has now brought a High Court challenge to his will, signed in 2000, claiming that his mother has “defrauded my father’s estate”. Mrs Watts vehemently denies the forgery claim and insists her son’s allegations are motivated by “animosity and spite”.
Mrs Watts made her name as a dancer after the Second World War, becoming an established figure at the Windmill Theatre. She went on to form a double act with singer-songwriter Eustace, who used the stage name Peter Ricardo. The couple were married in 1955.
Eustace, the adopted son of a judge, formed a popular calypso band during his music career before turning his hand to business, running a hotel and amassing a portfolio of residential and commercial properties in west London.
Carlton claims his father had a fortune worth about £8 million when he died aged 92 in April 2008, and has accused Mrs Watts of relying on a forged will “probably prepared after the deceased’s death”. He says a previous will from 1994 which split everything equally between himself, his mother and his brother, Fraser Watts, contains the true final wishes of his father.
Carlton’s barrister, Justin Holmes, highlighted evidence from a forensic expert who analysed the 2000 will and raised concerns that the “pen pressure” of the solicitor’s and witness’ signatures were surprisingly similar.
He claimed the “angle of letter formation” on Eustace’s signature was markedly similar to Mrs Watts’ signature, and said evidence also suggested that the 2000 will may have been created by “tracing” the solicitor and witness’ signatures from another family will.
Mrs Watts denies forgery and her barrister, Matthew Tonnard, said Carlton had been well provided for by his parents and lived with them as an adult until he was “gifted” his own home by Eustace — but now had his “mind set” against his mother.
In the witness box, Carlton said he has “tried to expose the fact that my mother manipulated documents in order to defraud the estate”. Mrs Watts says she is entitled to her husband’s assets as they were jointly held between them, and says Carlton must prove that the alleged 1994 will ever existed. She also claims the estate was worth £1.1 million.
The case in front of Master Julia Clark has been adjourned for further evidence to be heard.
