The family of an eccentric "recluse" who signed over his £650,000 home to a waitress he met at his local breakfast café have won a court fight to regain control of the property.
History buff and military memorabilia collector Richard Joy died in May 2018, having lived his entire life in the family home in Kenton in Harrow, where he amassed a “mountain of books” and left his parents’ old room untouched.
The 82-year-old - described by his family as a "recluse" - never married or had children and spent most of his time at the local library or working on his collection of rare coins, medals and military memorabilia.
But less than two years before his death, he gifted his home to Mariia Romanyshyn, 38, a Ukrainian waitress he met while she worked at his local café in 2011.
Mrs Romanyshyn said she formed a close bond with Mr Joy, who visited the "Upper Crust" cafe in Harrow three times a week, with the pensioner eventually inviting her and her family to live with him in his house as his "adopted family".
Later on - in 2016 - she claimed Mr Joy decided to gift her his home, "thrusting” the deeds of the property into her hands and saying: “The house is yours. I want you to keep the house."
But Mrs Romanyshyn was sued over the house "gift" by Mr Joy's cousin and executor of his estate, Martin Larney, who went to court to get the house back for the family.
He claimed Mr Joy was too mentally frail to understand what he was doing, but Mrs Romanyshyn fought back, claiming he was sharp enough to follow the complex storylines of Benedict Cumberbatch's 'Sherlock' and to play chess with her daughter, to whom he was a "grandfather figure.
After a week in court, the case came to an end when the parties agreed to settle their row, with Mrs Romanyshyn dropping her claim to ownership of the house.
In his order, Judge Simon Monty KC said the parties had agreed her claim to the house would be "dismissed" and Mr Joy's estate divided up under the terms of a 2011 will, which leaves the bulk of his estate to Mr Larney, his 87-year-old mum, Doreen, and a former friend.
During the trial at Central London County Court, Judge Monty heard that Mr Joy had never had a family of his own and lived his entire life in his parents' Hillside Gardens home.
Under a will made in 2011, most of his fortune, including the house, was to be split between cousin Mr Larney, his mother Doreen Larney, and a friend who is not involved in the case.
But after his death, it emerged that in 2016 he had signed a document gifting the property to Mrs Romanyshyn.
Challenging the gift in court, Mr Larney's barrister Andrew Nicklin claimed that Mr Joy did not have capacity to make such a big decision at that stage of life.
He was "vulnerable with apparent cognitive impairment" and "dependant" on Mrs Romanyshyn, who had moved into his home with her family at some point after they became friends at the café, he said.
Giving evidence, Mrs Romanyshyn explained she knew Mr Joy as a "respectable and reputable customer”, and she offered to help him with shopping or casual chores after a spell in hospital.
The support grew more regular basis over time, and she said Mr Joy encouraged her and her family to move in, and she said he told her: “My wish is for this to be your family home”.
She told the court she ended up moving in with her family despite her misgivings about such a big step, which forced her to abandon previous plans to move out of London and buy a home.
Her barrister Lynne Counsell said: “They and their children became the adopted family of the deceased and they also assisted him and cared for him, but neither of them were ever paid carers and at no time demanded or received any money for their care and assistance.”
Mrs Romanyshyn treated the pensioner “as her uncle,” while her daughter viewed him “as a grandfather figure” - and he was still mentally sharp enough to make major decisions, she continued.
“The deceased played chess with Mrs Romanyshyn’s oldest daughter before and after the deed of gift...and he also watched and was able to follow episodes of ‘Sherlock’ on television.”
Mrs Romanyshyn told the judge Mr Joy simply told her, “I have a present for you,” before offering her the house deeds, to which she had replied: “Don’t worry, I will look after it very well for you”.
“He received and felt the care, love and affection from me and my family," she said. "An extremely high degree of trust was there between us."
But Mr Larney’s barrister, Andrew Nicklin, suggested that in 2016 Mr Joy was in no position to sign off complex legal documents, arguing: “The deceased was vulnerable with apparent cognitive impairment and, on the face of the medical evidence produced, lacking capacity."
Although accepting that the relationship between Mr Joy and Mrs Romanyshyn’s family may have involved “care and affection,” he said she held “a position of ascendancy”, which demanded the utmost care be taken to ensure he knew what he was doing when deciding legal issues.
Giving evidence, Doreen Larney described her first cousin as a “a bit of a recluse” who had a tendency to burn through his money.
She said his bank manager father had tried to leave him money in trust because he “got through it so fast”.
“He just wasn’t good with money, it had no value for him,” she told Judge Monty, adding: “he would spend £6,000 on a gold coin and then he wouldn’t have any money left.”
Mr Larney went to court to overturn the 2016 gift of the house, so that it can be included in his estate and divided up under the terms of his 2011 will, which largely split his estate three ways between the Larneys and an old friend of Mr Joy's, who was not involved in the case.
The court heard that under the will his collection of militaria was donated to the Imperial War Museum, whilst part of his coin collection was sold to pay for his funeral expenses.
The case was heard in a week-long trial last month, but the warring parties agreed to settle their dispute out-of-court after negotiations behind the scenes.
The settlement is partially confidential, but Judge Monty in his order stated that he had been "satisfied on the evidence heard at trial that the last true will of Richard Anthony Joy was the will dated 26 November, 2011."
He said Mrs Romanyshyn's counterclaim against Mr Larney, in which she sought a ruling that she owns Mr Joy’s old home due to a 2016 deed of gift, would be "dismissed."
