The wife and daughter of a British mountaineer who died in an avalanche are embroiled in a High Court dispute over his £10million estate.
Paul Samuel, 55, who once called himself “an adventurer in a slightly old-fashioned sense”, was killed in June 2018 while climbing Alpamayo, a 19,511ft peak in Peru’s Andes. A Slovenian climber and their local guide also died in the avalanche.
Mr Samuel, an author and entrepreneur as well as an explorer, left an estate valued at around £10million. Under the terms of his will, the fortune was intended to be divided broadly equally between his partner, Ana Lesiak Samuel, 59, and his daughter from a previous relationship, Kate Samuel, 25.
Yet eight years after his death, the family remains locked in a dispute over the money. The case has included claims of a “difficult relationship” between the two women, which was reportedly worsened when Ana allegedly refused to let Kate’s mother attend Mr Samuel’s memorial service.
The High Court in London heard this week that disagreements between the pair and the lawyer appointed to administer the estate have resulted in years of delay.
Mr Samuel’s achievements included sailing across the South China Sea, trekking through the jungles of Borneo and climbing Mount Everest. He also wrote Find Your Own Mountains, a book featuring 18 letters he had written for Kate’s 18th birthday about his life and adventures. It was published in the months following his death.
Explorer Paul Blelock Samuel was killed in an avalanche on Alpamayo in the Peruvian Andes in 2018, leaving a £10million fortune
Ana Samuel is seeking to remain executor, maintaining that she has been obstructed by Mr Samuel’s daughter Kate and the lawyer overseeing the estate
Judge Master Francesca Kaye was told that most of the explorer’s assets, including the £780,000 Bank Farm near Whitchurch, Shropshire, had been placed in a trust in line with his will. The arrangement provides for Kate and Ana to receive equal shares.
Part of the fortune has already been distributed. Kate has received a £1million payment, while Ana was given the farm and another property, the court heard.
The two women, who were said to have been “not close” even before Mr Samuel’s death, are now opposing each other in court alongside Anna Unett, the lawyer and trustee appointed under the will.
The dispute previously came before the High Court in 2023, amid arguments over the value of estate assets and the way they should be divided. Ana failed at that stage in her attempt to remove Mrs Unett and Mr Samuel’s father, Peter, as trustees. Peter later died.
Although a judge issued directions on how the assets were to be distributed, the disagreement has continued.
Mrs Unett, supported by Kate, is now seeking Ana’s removal as executor and as a co-trustee of the will trust. She has accused Ana of causing unnecessary delays and increasing the costs borne by the estate.
Ana, however, is fighting to keep both positions. She maintains that her husband intended her to take charge of administering his estate.
Kate Samuel is seeking to have her father’s wife, Ana Samuel, removed as executor of his will
Lawyer Anna Unett, pictured, has been accused by Ana Samuel of deliberately blocking her access to estate documents
Julie Case, representing Kate, accused Ana of trying to “delay and frustrate the proper and efficient administration of the estate”.
She said: “Kate believes that Ana is unsuitable to act as an executor. The relationship between Ana and Kate has been strained for some time.
“Ana has caused difficulties and delays since the April 2023 hearing. She appears to be unable — whether deliberately or not — to deal with anything in a straightforward and transparent manner.”
The court heard that Mr Samuel’s will created two trusts, of which both Ana and Kate were to be equal beneficiaries. Ms Case said the aim had been to create a ‘clean break between them… having regard of the difficult relationship’.
She concluded: ‘It is Kate’s position that, but for Ana’s conduct since the April 2023 order, all the distributions would now have been made and the administration of the estate would have been completed some time ago.
‘Kate wants to see the administration of the estate concluded as quickly as possible and with minimal cost to the estate. The deceased never intended Ana to act as the sole executor.’
Mr Samuel penned a book, Find Your Own Mountains, collecting 18 letters he had written for Kate’s 18th birthday. It was published in the months after his death
But Alexander Learmonth KC, for Ana, told the judge that she denies being at fault for the delay and insists she is the right person to be in charge of the estate as that is what her dead husband wanted.
‘Ana resists her removal as executor: there is simply no proper ground for doing so,’ he said, labelling the ask a ‘drastic step’.
‘Ana experienced a period of poor mental health in 2024 following her bereavement, but… that has fully resolved,’ he said, adding that she had driven the publication of his book and had been raising funds for a school in Nepal in his memory.
Blaming Mrs Unett, the lawyer, for the delay, he said Ana had been denied access to vital estate documents, delaying the administration of the £10million fortune.
‘Mrs Unett says that the estate administration is almost complete. If so, then Ana, as the appointed and properly constituted executor, should simply be allowed to complete it,’ he said.
For Mrs Unett, barrister Mark Baxter claimed administration and distribution of the estate had in fact been ‘delayed and complicated by Ana’s conduct’.
‘Generally, Ana’s approach to all matters related to the estate is uncooperative, if not combative,’ he told the judge.
‘The only person with any interest in the matter who wishes Ana to remain in office is Ana herself.’
Following a half day hearing, the case was adjourned, but is due to return to court at a later date.
