Vintage stuffed fish at heart of £6.8m Cutts family court fight

When family matriarch Susan Cutts died, aged 72, in April 2015 she left behind four grieving children and a sprawling farm in the heart of the New Forest, worth millions.

But Susan also left behind a letter expressing her "deathbed wishes" which has led to a £6.8m family war, pitting horse-riding sisters Victoria Delville-Cutts, Charlotte Springall, 48, and Cecilia Delville-Lindsay, 55, against farmer brother Alister Cutts, 50, in court.

Charlotte Springall (Image: Newsquest)

Susan - who inherited tycoon husband Oliver Cutts' estate when he died in 1995 - directed her fortune be put into trusts for the benefit of all her children, stating that every effort must be made to keep the farm within the family and sale considered only as a "last resort".

But since their mother's death, the siblings have badly fallen out, with a "significant and deep rift" developing between Alister and his three sisters.

The trio are furious at a plan by the trustees controlling the family money to hand the farm - which they say is worth at least £6.8m and possibly £10m - to Alister for £4.2m, with some of that cash then to pass to Victoria, former Team GB Olympics hopeful horsewoman Charlotte and horse breeder Cecilia.

They say the "discount" sale of the farm to Alister would see them and their families exiled from the family land, as well as leaving them out of pocket.

The trio say it is unfair of the trustees - headed by their cousin Paul Cutts - to assign the farm to their brother for more than £2.5m under its open market worth.

Now brother and sisters are facing off in London's High Court, with the sisters pointing to bizarre evidence in the form of a vintage stuffed pike, which they say proves the trustees are acting unfairly due to Paul Cutts' "close and friendly" relations with Alister.

The court heard the siblings are the children of south London garage chain millionaire Oliver Cutts, who rose from being a coalman to a successful tycoon.

Mr Cutts ploughed his multimillion-pound fortune into Folds Farm, Fordingbridge, which passed to his widow Susan on his death.

Prior to Susan's death, the siblings shared the farm, with first Charlotte - who now runs her own stud and stables - and then Victoria running the equestrian yard.

But after their mum's death in 2015, relations became strained and the rift has now intensified to the point where the trust which was settled by their mother to run the farm for all their benefit is no longer working, lawyers for the trustees told the court.

The sisters now want the farm sold on the open market and the money divided, having previously argued for the land being divided up into parcels but kept within family ownership.

The trustees, however, have instead accepted an offer of £4.2m to "assign" the whole farm to Alister.

The bulk of that money would then be divided amongst the sisters, leaving them with over £800,000 each, lawyers for the trustees told the judge, Master Julia Clark, asking her to approve the move.

The rest of the money would go elsewhere within the family, as well as paying tax bills and other expenses.

But the sisters are urging the High Court to block Alister from gaining ownership of the farm, labelling the plan "unfair".

Giving evidence, Victoria, who now runs a boutique stable on the Belgium-Holland border specialising in equine salt therapy, complained that the siblings are not being treated equally.

"The mathematics says it. It's heart-breaking. You are either fair or not fair," she told the judge.

"My sisters and I don't mind Alister buying the farm - but at the correct rate."

She said the trustees have a duty to act impartially, but had been shown to favour Alister, with the purchase of a stuffed pike at auction a key piece of evidence held up to support that argument.

The court heard Alister had instructed his assistants to buy the vintage fish at a Bonhams auction on behalf of the siblings' cousin Paul Cutts, having learned that the fish had been caught by Mr Cutts' father.

Cross-examining trustee Mr Cutts on the question of the pike, barrister Graham Stott, for Charlotte - who was close to qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics - asked: "The stuffed fish was sold at Bonhams, wasn't it"?

"Actually there was two," Mr Cutts replied.

"Are you telling me Alister has purchased two stuffed fish for you?" the barrister asked.

"Alister's assistants purchased two stuffed fish on my behalf," Mr Cutts said.

"You are rather close to him aren't you? You were in touch about him buying items for you at auctions and you also gave him items such as garage doors. You are distributing now to Alister and not the other beneficiaries."

But Mr Cutts insisted: "I'm no closer to Alister than any of the others."

Mr Stott then drew attention to the fact that the valuation of the farm had been raised by the valuing land agents from £6.3m to £6.8m, but that the offer price to Alister had remained at £4.2m.

"Traditionally, the more something is worth, the more you have to pay for it, but you and your fellow trustees have decided Alister doesn't have to be charged more for it.

"The half million difference is because you all favour Alister and have a rather friendly relationship with him," he alleged.

Mr Cutts replied: "Due process was followed. I'm in no way swayed one way or the other towards Alister."

The barrister put it to him that, since trustees have duties to all beneficiaries, the only way to be fair would be for Folds Farm to be sold on the open market.

But Mr Cutts replied: "That would go against Susan's letter of wishes. As a discretionary trust, we as trustees are looking primarily to uphold Susan's deathbed wishes and keep the farm within the family.

"Within the letter of wishes and the will, there is no mention of fairness. It's a discretionary trust. A sale to third parties was to be a last resort.

"I think it was a reasonable decision and as fair as it can be."

Lawyers for Cecilia, who has owned and bred rare breed Cleveland Bay horses for over 20 years and is president of the Cleveland Bay Horse Society, backed her sisters' submissions.

But Daniel Burton, setting out the case on behalf of the trustees of the family trusts, told the judge they were taking the right path.

"The trustees rightly gave great weight to the settlor's wishes," he said.

"It's absolutely right and proper for the trustees to pay close attention to Susan's wishes, as expressed in the letter of wishes.

"There is an allegation of partiality here, the preference of Alister over the three sisters.

"However, in the case of a discretionary trust, to speak of fairness is meaningless. The very discretion is to prefer one beneficiary over another. There is no duty here to treat the beneficiaries equally.

"The trustees settled on a price that actually meant that Alister could make a go of it. It's a very deliberate balanced exercise. This has been given very careful thought and consideration.

"The trustees could have given the whole thing to Alister for free if they chose.

"It reserves Fold Farm within the family as Susan wanted and creates liquidity.

"It is a rational and proper decision.

"There's a misunderstanding of the legal principles which has permeated the whole opposition to this.

"The trustees are faced with siblings who simply don't get on with each other. There is a significant and deep rift between the four children.

"The trustees have a duty to act impartially, but that is not the same as equal division."

Turning to the hotly debated fish, the barrister continued: "The stuffed fish issue is at its height insufficient. If a staff member sees a fish which is up for sale and has gone to auction and says 'I don't mind getting this for you,' it is not enough.

"Even if there was a close relationship we are dealing with a small rural community where relationships are close. One has to be realistic."

The judge, addressing the issue of the controversial pike, commented: "The way you put it is that there is not evidence of sufficient closeness."

The judge reserved her decision on whether to approve the assignment of the farm to Alister at the £4.2m price to a later date.