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A beautician is suing her dead husband’s secret wife, claiming she has “plundered” the £1.8m estate of the man they both married in Las Vegas to stop her getting his fortune.
Millionaire accountant and property king James Dinsdale died of cancer, aged 55, in October 2020, leaving a fortune which is now at the centre of a bitter court row between Margaret Dinsdale and dentist Dr Victoria Fowell. Both tied the knot with him in Las Vegas ceremonies just five years apart.
His most recent partner, beautician Ms Dinsdale, was rocked after James’ death to discover he was still legally married to cosmetic dentist Dr Fowell when he wed her in 2017 – making their marriage “void” and leaving her with no automatic right to inherit.
She only discovered James had a secret wife when she began sorting out his affairs on the assumption that she would inherit his fortune as his next of kin.
Five years earlier, in 2012, James had married Dr Fowell on the same Las Vegas street, but never got round to divorcing her – making her heir to his £1.8m fortune under intestacy laws.
Ms Dinsdale’s rights as “spouse” were formally recognised by a judge in July and she is now bringing a substantial claim to part of his wealth under the Inheritance Act.
But last week she returned to London’s High Court, claiming Dr Fowell has “plundered” James’ £1.8m estate to stop her getting his fortune, and is now seeking to “freeze” all Dr Fowell’s assets.
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Margaret Dinsdale pictured outside London’s High Court (Champion News)
Her barrister, Gideon Roseman, told Mr Justice Mann that Dr Fowell has “plundered” the estate, which she has “treated … as if she is solely entitled” to it – claims firmly denied by the dentist.
The court heard James Dinsdale – an accountant and Second World War history expert – built a thriving property development business, based around central London, before he died.
He wed Dr Fowell – a St Albans-based dentist with an expertise in “cosmetic smile makeovers” – in 2012, but the pair never got divorced and he went on to marry Margaret Dinsdale in 2017.
Margaret and James had met in 2008 and become friends before beginning a “romantic relationship” in 2014, setting up home together the following year.
Margaret’s wedding took place at the Chapel of the Flowers on Las Vegas Boulevard, while Dr Fowell had married James five years earlier and 600 metres away at the Little White Wedding Chapel.
However, Margaret had no inkling that James was still married when they got married in 2017, only learning of it after his death from cancer.
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James Dinsdale was still married to dentist Victoria Fowell despite tying the knot with Margaret in 2017 (Supplied by Champion News)
And because he had not made a will, James’ money would be divided between Dr Fowell and his son, William Dinsdale, 28, under intestacy rules.
Margaret says she married James “in good faith” on the understanding that his marriage to Dr Fowell had ended some time before their wedding.
She ended up looking after him “24 hours per day” during his struggles with terminal cancer and was his primary carer, having given up work and become a housewife while he provided for her financially.
Margaret’s barrister, Mr Roseman, told the court his client is living on universal credit and raising a small child while at the same time highlighting Dr Fowell’s relative affluence – running a successful dental practice and owning her own property.
With Margaret now pursuing a claim to a slice of James’ £1.8m fortune under the 1975 Inheritance Act, it was essential that Dr Fowell be prevented from “dissipating” money from his estate to ensure there is something left in the pot for Margaret, he told the court.
Urging Mr Justice Mann to grant the freezing order, he explained: “In the absence of the order being granted, the claimant will be left with a paper judgment. Dr Fowell will have successfully plundered the estate and will, no doubt, have hidden or dissipated both the assets of the estate and her personal assets.”
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Dinsdale made his fortune in property development before his death in 2020 (Supplied by Champion News)
Dr Fowell, while executing James’ estate, had gone through much of his fortune, with only some £17,000 left sitting in her solicitors’ account, with the whereabouts of the remaining assets largely a mystery, said the barrister.
“Dr Fowell, as the personal representative of the estate of Mr Dinsdale, has plundered the estate, breached every court order – notwithstanding a penal notice – for the provision of information and documentation concerning the same, and has admitted to paying to herself around £400,000 out of the estate’s monies,” he claimed.
The dentist “treated the estate as if she is solely entitled to the same and is now … seeking to hide the monies she has received from the estate,” he added.
She had gone on to sell two of the properties left by James – a pub and cottage – for a combined value of just £600,000 when their true value was probably up to £1.5m, he continued.
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The Little White Wedding Chapel, where Dinsdale married Fowell (Champion News Service)
The “likely explanation” for Dr Fowell selling at a reduced rate was that “she wanted to get her hands on the cash as quickly as possible with a view to frustrating the claimant’s claim”, alleged the barrister.
However, Dr Fowell’s lawyers urged against making the freezing order, pointing out that she also has a young child to care for and the responsibility of looking after her elderly parents, also denying any attempt to hide assets from James’ estate.
Some of the cash realised from the estate has gone on adapting accommodation at her home for her parents, Dr Fowell claims.
After half a day in court, Mr Justice Mann refused to grant a full freezing order, which he said could have a dire and disproportionate impact on Dr Fowell’s dental business.
But he did impose a more limited injunction, freezing the estate assets or stocks and also her main personal assets, preventing any sale of her home and the dental practice she owns.
Dr Fowell was also ordered to draw up accounts, “particularising what has happened to the assets of the estate which she realised”.
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Dinsdale married Margaret at the Chapel of the Flowers, just metres away from his previous wedding ceremony (Champion News Service)
It was unclear where all the money in James’ estate had gone, said the judge, noting that although all his properties have now been sold, only two have a known purchase price.
“There’s a good arguable case for saying that Dr Fowell has wrongly and, in the face of a claim under the Inheritance Act, dissipated the estate in her own favour,” he said.
Explaining his order, the judge told the court: “I am making that order because it’s not clear where the money from the estate has gone and it remains possible that there’s property representing assets from the estate which have not yet been disclosed.”
Margaret’s solicitor, Mohaned Salah, commented after the hearing: “We welcome this order, which we trust will bring Margaret a significant step closer to concluding these proceedings and allow her to properly mourn the late Mr Dinsdale, whom she genuinely believed to be her husband.
“Margaret has suffered both mentally and financially throughout this process, and her health has deteriorated rapidly.”