‘She made her father out to be a vile love-cheat’: 未亡人’s agony at the bitter £1m 相続物件 法廷，裁判所 戦う／戦い with stepdaughter who 裁判官 told to ‘get a 職業’?

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Elaine 目的（とする）s, 63, is the stepmother of Danielle Ames, who was 削減（する） out out of her father's £1 million will

Michael Ames was such a hugely 私的な man that, when he died three years ago from a heart attack at 62, he didn’t want those he loved to 見解（をとる） him in the Chapel of 残り／休憩（する）, let alone lay 明らかにする his personal life to the world.

But little more than a week ago, that is 正確に／まさに what happened when the entrepreneur’s daughter from an earlier marriage, Danielle, took her stepmother Elaine Ames, 63, to Central London 郡 法廷，裁判所 in an unseemly 戦う／戦い over her father’s £1 million fortune.

Michael had bequeathed his entire 広い地所 to Elaine, his partner of more than 30 years, while Danielle, his only child, was left nothing.?

And so Elaine had to sit and listen as the 失業 41-year-old mother-of-two stood in 法廷，裁判所 and painted her father as a seri al womaniser who cared little for his wife. It was her, his flesh and 血, he doted on, she argued, and who he’d 約束d his 高度に successful glazing empire ‘will be yours one day’.

After all, she pleaded, why should a family 商売／仕事 started by her maternal grandfather 結局最後にはーなる in the 手渡すs of her stepsisters, ツバメ, 44, and Cherie, 41, while she, her father’s only daughter, was left struggling to bring up his grandchildren on her partner’s £800 月毎の 行う, 加える 利益s??Why indeed?

Rarely had a family 戦う／戦い resonated with so many. In an age when marriages are 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd aside on a whim and children are left with more steps (mother, father, brothers, sisters) than a flight of stairs, the 事例／患者 seemed to epitomise the heartache 苦しむd by an only child 押し進めるd aside by a 法令 絶対の and a new wife.

Michael Ames (pictured) bequeathed his entire 広い地所 to Elaine, his partner of more than 30 years, while Danielle, his only c hild, was left nothing

Yet the 判決，裁定 was perfectly 合理的な／理性的な: Elaine, as Michael’s 合法的な wife, 相続するd everything upon her husband’s death, which is 基準, and, in turn, fully 推定する／予想するd to pass on everything to all their children when she 結局 died.

And now, far from 現れるing as a modern-day Cinderella, Danielle has become a 国家の byword for indolent greed after 裁判官 Halpern みなすd her to be an unreliable 証言，証人／目撃する who ‘gilded the lily’.

She’d （人命などを）奪う，主張するd she deserved a payout of £300,000. However, 裁判官 David Halpern 支配するd: ‘Danielle has no disability and is fit to work. In contrast, Elaine is past working age and it is 明らかな that she is not 井戸／弁護士席.

‘I 結論する that her 欠如（する） of 雇用 is a lifestyle choice. That alone is 十分な to 敗北・負かす her （人命などを）奪う，主張する.’

Not only did Danielle not receive a penny of her father’s will, she was also ordered to 支払う／賃金 her stepmother’s £87,000 合法的な costs.

Daughter: Danielle Ames (picture) has taken her stepmother to 法廷，裁判所 after 存在 left out of her father's will

Yet, in her first interview since the 判決，裁定, Elaine says it brings her little joy. ‘The 裁判官 did the 権利 thing,’ she says, ‘but there is no victory here. I just feel so sorry for Michael and what his daughter’s done to his 指名する. Calling him a philanderer and things was terrible. Awful.

‘I couldn’t believe she sat there and told so many 露骨な／あからさまの lies. She said he had mistresses, but how could he? We were always together. We got up at the same time. We （機の）カム downstairs. We had breakfast together. We’d 運動 to work together.

‘He’d go into his glazing 商売／仕事 and I’d go into my shop [Elaine runs a balloon shop with daughter Cherie]. We’d 会合，会う for lunch. の近くに our shops. Go home. He’d be in here.’

She means the swish sitting room where we sit. ‘I’d cook out there.’ She nods に向かって her 黒人／ボイコット-and-white tiled kitchen. ‘We’d have our meal. Go to bed.

‘He was a good man, but he was portrayed as someone who was vile. But . . .’ She pauses. Shakes her 長，率いる. ‘She was his daughter and he loved her, so what do I do? I don’t know. I sleep with Michael’s photo under my pillow and talk to him every day. I say: “Please help me sort this out.” ’

Elaine Ames with her late husband, who died three years ago from a heart attack. She has since been taken to 法廷，裁判所 by her stepdaughter in a 論争 over his £1 million will

Elaine, you see, is not the sort of wicked stepmother 設立する in the pages of a Grimm’s fairytale. Instead of crowing from the rooftops at her stepdaughter’s comeuppance 同様に she might ― after all, Danielle stood in a 証言，証人／目撃する box and swore under 誓い her father even had a mistress at the time of his death ― she pities her.

Far from cutting off his daughter financially, Elaine knows 十分な 井戸／弁護士席 Michael wished for all of their three daughters ― Danielle, ツバメ and Cherie (‘we didn’t do steps’) ― to be remembered in her will on her death.

‘How can I do that now after all she’s said?’ asks Elaine. ‘But I know t hat’s what Michael 手配中の，お尋ね者. He loved her. All of this isn’t just her fault . . .’

She is referring to Michael’s ex-wife ― and Danielle’s mother ― Carlene, from whom he 分裂（する） more than 30 years ago. It was their bitter 離婚, she 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うs, which may have played a part in how events 広げるd.

There are, of course, two 味方するs to every story. Danielle and her mother 株d theirs with a Sunday news-paper last week, repeating the unfounded （人命などを）奪う，主張するs of mistresses and another will, superseding the one he 調印するd in 2005 leaving his 広い地所 to his wife.

Elaine Ames (centre) with daugh ter Cherie Sullivan and granddaughter Abbie 物陰／風下

によれば Danielle, Elaine was ‘greedy’ and ‘selfish’. ‘In my 見解（をとる）, she became very 汚い after he died,’ she said.

But the woman I 会合，会う in the £650,000 four-bedroom house in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, that was at the centre of the 法廷，裁判所 事例／患者, along with a 価値のある 火刑／賭ける in the shop in Enfield, North London, seems neither 汚い nor selfish.

Instead, she is in pieces trying to make sense of what she calls a vicious （選挙などの）運動をする 行うd against her for three １０年間s, 最高潮に達するing in the unseemly 戦う／戦い in Central London 郡 法廷，裁判所 ten days ago.?

‘Michael knew this would happen,’ she says. ‘He took so long 令状ing his will it drove me mad. We drew up 地雷 at the same time.

‘I have Crohn’s 病気 and Michael was 診断するd with MS three years before he died, so we never knew which of us would go first, but we 手配中の，お尋ね者 to make sure the one who was left had enough to look after themselves until they went.

Elaine has 攻撃する，衝突する 支援する at （人命などを）奪う，主張するs she is '汚い, selfish and greedy' after 存在 taken to 法廷，裁判所 by her stepdaughter, Danielle

‘Danielle was never 削減（する） off by her father, it was just up to which ever of us 生き残るd to leave what remained of the 広い地所 to do with as we wished upon our own death.

‘But Michael knew what I was going to have to put up with. He 主張するd that we had the wills 証言，証人／目撃するd by two solicitors.

‘He made this will 基本的に to 保護する me, which was lovely. He . . .’ The 宣告，判決 ends in uncontrollable sobs. Elaine takes a break for several minutes to gather herself.

‘I 港／避難所’t cried until today,’ she says. ‘They 港／避難所’t 許すd me to grieve for him. It hasn’t stopped for a minute. I dread the postman coming. I dread the phone （犯罪の）一味ing.’

It’s at this point she shows me a card, 配達するd to her husband’s 商売／仕事 ten months after his death, on his April 2 birthday.

It reads: ‘Happy Birthday darling, can’t wait to see you again. Will be in the area soon with love. I’ll wear nothing as usual. Can’t wait.’

Elaine bites her lip. ‘Sad, isn’t it?’ Sad? Whoever sent this card to a grieving 未亡人 is an utter 不名誉. There are others, many others, she’s received over the years.

Another 匿名の／不明の card reads: ‘I see heaven when I’m making love to you. As if she only knew but love is true. Our life will be 完全にする when you make everything neat.’

There are other, even more vile ones, that cannot be repeated in a 国家の newspaper.

Of course, Elaine cannot 証明する who sent these cards ― nor indeed should anyone take them 純粋に at 額面価格 ― but 明確に, something very 悪意のある and dark has been 毒（薬）ing the family long before the 事例／患者 （機の）カム to 法廷，裁判所 earlier this year.

Elaine and Michael had both been separated from their spouses for several years when they began dating in 1980. He was a shy man with few friends, but a strong work ethic and a natural way with children.

Not only did Danielle not receive a penny of her father’s will, she was also ordered to 支払う／賃金 her stepmother’s £87,000 合法的な costs

Elaine’s daughters, who were four and seven when they 始める，決める up home together, soon regarded Michael as a father 人物／姿／数字. Indeed, Michael would later give ツバメ away at her wedding and doted upon the grandchildren who followed, Abbey, now 24, and Tilly, 19.

He never, though, neglected Danielle, whom he financially supported and saw every Sunday.

‘We gave up our Sundays together as a family so he could see her. It was very difficult in the beginning but I thought it was important he spent time with his daughter.

‘Michael hated his ex-wife. We weren’t even 許すd to call her by her 指名する. He paid her £10,000 when they 離婚d, then another £10,000 when Danielle was 18 and the 維持／整備 stopped.’

Then, in 2000, Michael 苦しむd his first heart attack. ‘Once he was 支援する at work just before Christmas he （機の）カム home 早期に one day and said: “Elaine, let’s do some shopping.” We went to Epping and he pulled in 近づく the 登録（する） office. I said: “What have you come here for?”

‘He said: “We’ve got to get married.” We’d never について言及するd it before. There was nothing wrong with our 関係 as it was.’

Elaine says Michael had received a phone call from his ex-wife pointing out that, because they weren’t married, Danielle remained his next of 肉親，親類, and she’d 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know ‘what you want done if you di e’.

‘He was beside himself. He said: “I can’t have her sorting out my 事件／事情／状勢s and Danielle isn’t my next of 肉親，親類. You are.” ’

They married on May 29, 2001, with just two strangers from the 登録（する） office as 証言，証人／目撃するs.

‘It was sad, really,’ says Elaine. ‘It wasn’t a 抱擁する romantic thing. It was done 簡単に to 保護する me which took the 向こうずね off it.’

Two years later, Elaine was finally introduced to Danielle. ‘Her dad had rented her a shop to run her picture でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるing 商売／仕事. By then she’d had her little girl and already had her son Levi, now 19. I said to Michael: “These kids are your flesh and 血, you need to see them too.”

‘That was the start of us seeing each other. I used to buy things for the kids for birthdays so we had to go 一連の会議、交渉／完成する there. I’d make sure we went at 復活祭 time, too, but she never 招待するd us in. I asked her over here, time and again, but she would never 始める，決める foot in my house.’

Danielle Ames, pictured with her father Michael, who died after 苦しむing a heart attack in 2013

にもかかわらず this, Elaine quickly 社債d with her grandchildren, 特に Levi who would pop into her shop for a cup of tea and a 雑談（する） when he began a Saturday 職業 with his grandfather.

Indeed, it was he who raised the alarm when Michael 苦しむd his second, 致命的な heart attack alone in his office on June 1, 2013.

They 設立する him 低迷d over his computer. ‘He was dead at his desk. I just hugged him as I waited for the police to come . . . not the best day,’ she says, struggling with 涙／ほころびs again.

Worse was to come when Elaine returned to the shop on Monday, with her youngest daughter, Cherie. ‘Danielle had all the glaziers outside on the road talking to them. I said: “What’s going on, they’re supposed to be working.” She said: “I’ve come to take over the shop.” I said: “You can’t run the 商売／仕事, you don’t know anything about it.” I didn’t want to tell her what was in the will. It wasn’t my place to do that.’

The scene that 続いて起こるd, she says, was pretty ugly.

‘結局, I managed to get her out of the shop. Then she began texting me, 説 she 手配中の，お尋ね者 to see her father’s 団体／死体 to say goodbye. I didn’t know what to do. I needed to carry out Michael’s wishes. He didn’t want any of us seeing him dead, but I could also feel for her.

‘At the end of the day she’s his daughter. I had to sort it out in my 長，率いる and ask his forgiveness for not carrying out his wish and letting her go.’

The last time Elaine spoke to Danielle was on the day of Michael’s funeral. She’d arranged a car to 含む her stepdaughter, partner and the grandchildren.

‘I told her the mother must not go in that car,’ says Elaine. ‘Michael would have come 支援する and haunted us all. I asked her if she was 承認する before we went to the crematorium. She （機の）カム to the wake, but we didn’t speak. We 港／避難所’t spoken since.’ Understandably.

A week after the funeral Elaine received a phone call from the police. Danielle was （人命などを）奪う，主張するing she and Cherie had attacked her outside her father’s shop.

The police 警告するd Elaine if she and her daughter didn’t go 任意に to the police 駅／配置する they would be 逮捕（する）d.

She says: ‘My daughter ― who was 妊娠している at the time ― and I were put in separate rooms. It was so, so degrading. I’d never, ever been in a police 独房 before. I was having to defend myself for something I hadn’t done.’

Elaine and her daughter were 解放（する）d without 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金. She hoped that was the end of nastiness.

Then, on July 8, Elaine received a letter from her lawyer: ‘I should について言及する that last week I received a call from your stepdaughter, Danielle, 知らせるing me that she thought Michael had made a later will than that of 20th December 2005, which we are 持つ／拘留するing.

‘I told her I would be surprised if this were the 事例／患者 because we have 行為／法令／行動するd for Michael for many years.’

Within five months, Danielle had served papers contesting her father’s will to the 法廷，裁判所s. And so, began the unsavoury mudslinging that was played out in 法廷，裁判所 and the 国家の マスコミ.

Danielle appeared on TV on Friday, 述べるing how she’d phoned solicitors’ offices for two weeks until she 設立する the 会社／堅い which held her father’s will. She was told there and then that his entire 広い地所 had passed to Elaine.

‘I know my husband loved Danielle. I’m not 納得させるd now that she loved him. She’s never, ever even asked where his ashes are. It’s amazing, isn’t it?’

It is ― but no more so than this truly horrendous 反目，不和 that has been 行うd against the wife that Michael Ames sought only to 保護する in life and death.?