In a heated inheritance dispute, a man claims he sacrificed a lucrative career in the film industry to care for his aging parents, only to be labeled a “parasite” by his younger siblings over a £600,000 estate.

Robert Chung, aged 62, asserts that he was promised the family home after moving back to live with his parents. He took up a position at a Job Centre to care for his father, Victor, who passed away in 1998, and later his mother, Irene Chung, until her death in 2016.

However, his siblings—Marina Bennett, a senior accountant, and Richard Chung, an IT manager—argue that it was their mother who actually supported Robert during those 36 years. They criticize him as a “disappointment” and “financial drain,” claiming he spent his days watching television.

Accusing Robert of being a “pathological liar” with an inflated self-image, they suggest his so-called career in the “film industry” was merely a stint at a Blockbuster video store.

The siblings are demanding the estate be divided equally among the three of them, with the case currently unfolding in court.

The Central London County Court was told that Victor and Irene Chung raised their children in a three-bedroom detached house in South Woodford, east London, which is now valued at approximately £400,000.

Marina and Richard’s barrister, Faisel Sadiq, said that while the younger two had gone out and forged successful careers, Robert had proved to be a ‘disappointment’ and failed to properly fly the nest.

Although he moved out of the family home to Berkshire, he moved back in 1990, taking employment in a Job Centre and never again leaving his parents’ home. 

Robert Chung, 62, says the family home was promised solely to him after he moved back in to look after his parents

Marina Bennett, Robert’s younger sister, says that her brother would just lounge around the living room all day watching films

Giving evidence, Robert told Judge Lawrence McDonald that he had only moved back home because he had been asked to, to provide care for his elderly parents.

After his father died of cancer, he was asked to stay on to look after his mother, who Robert said needed help with cooking and cleaning.

He said both his parents had promised that if he did so he would get the house, but that a will his mother drew up in his favour during her final days was not executed before her death in 2016.

As she died without a valid will, her estate was to be split three ways with his two siblings. This led to an eviction notice from the professional administrator of the estate, sparking Robert’s court fight for ownership of the house.

Representing himself he said he had acted to his detriment in moving back home 36 years ago, leaving behind his ‘film industry’ job and hopes of a successful career to do his duty to his parents.

‘I didn’t want to end up working in a Job Centre, but that’s what I did for 22 years,’ he told the judge. ‘That’s a choice I made for my parents.’

Outside court, he said he had worked for Blockbusters, but had also written promotional copy for movies and also worked in merchandising.

But Mr Sadiq said it was the younger siblings’ case that no promises were ever made about the house, and that it would have been out of character for their parents to have done so.

Richard Chung, 58, agrees with their sister that the house and estate should be split three ways

The spat concerns the inheritance of this three-bedroom house in South Woodford in East London

In fact, Robert’s parents did not need, nor receive, any care from their son, who had moved back in with them for his own reasons and become a ‘financial drain,’ said the barrister.

And Robert’s claim of moving back in because his father had been diagnosed with cancer was ‘simply untrue’ as the diagnosis was not until 1992.

Mr Sadiq said: ‘Our case is that you were the son that was a bit of a disappointment, who didn’t leave home and was financially dependent on his parents.’

‘Your parents had always wanted all three children to strike out on their own and get their own homes. Your coming back home was something of a disappointment to your father and your mother too.

‘Your father didn’t need or get any care from you at any point before he died. His cancer did not lead to him needing any care, save for the last month of his life.

‘Your mother didn’t need any help or care until the last couple of years. She remained the strong, determined woman she had been.

‘In fact it was the position that it was your mother who looked after you until the last year of her life.

‘She cooked your meals, did your laundry. When her health deteriorated, you didn’t provide her with the care she needed, did you?

‘You provided your mum with no care. You didn’t feed her, didn’t really deal with her dirty clothes, and you left the house a tip.’

Responding, Robert denied that, telling the judge he always made sure his mother’s clothes were clean and arranged her meals before he left for work.

In her evidence, Marina said she had been a regular visitor of her mother even after she emigrated to North America, but missed 2015 and had been shocked when she came home the following year.

‘I was horrified by what I saw,’ she said. ‘She had lost 30lbs in weight. For someone supposedly looking after mum, Robert Chung had failed.’

Prior to that, she had not seen her brother caring for their mother, she continued, accusing him of ‘just lounging in the living room watching movies non-stop, with mum doing everything around you.’

Describing him as a ‘pathological liar,’ she said that, if there had ever been promises that Robert could have the house, then he would have ‘moved heaven and earth’ to get them in writing.

‘Robert is different. He is not a nice person, highly manipulative, with an ability to lie,’ she said.

‘Robert has a grandiose view of his importance. He boasts he was self-employed when in reality he worked in a video store.

‘He said the other day he worked in Blockbusters.’

Addressing him directly, she added: ‘Mum and dad wanted you to live on your own and have your own house. They would have supported you in that respect, but everything I have seen so far doesn’t support a promise that you would have the house.’

Denying she hates her brother, Marina told the judge she instead ignores him, as she has done since she was a small child, because to dislike him ‘would require energy and emotion’.

But Robert told the judge that the evidence of his sister and brother should be treated with caution due to the obvious bad feeling between them, and the fact they will benefit financially if he doesn’t get the house.

Neither have direct knowledge of promises or the lack of them, because they were not there in the house with him at the time, he pointed out.

He said his sister ‘is not by any means a neutral witness,’ pointing to language in her 2019 statement, including ‘pathological liar’, ‘sociopath’, ‘parasite’, and ‘greed and jealousy’.

Robert’s lawyers said his bother, Richard, is ‘a beneficiary and plainly aligned against Robert’. 

‘His later statement uses overtly hostile language, including “parasite” and “fundamentally lazy”,’ they added.

‘Marina doesn’t want me to have the house, she doesn’t want me to have a home,’ Robert told the judge. ‘She doesn’t care if I end up on the street.’

After a week in court, McDonald reserved his decision on the dispute until a later date.

The case has been brought by the professional administrator of Irene Chung’s estate, who is asking the judge to rule that Robert must leave the house so it can be sold and the proceeds divided up.

Robert is defending the possession claim, while counterclaiming for ownership of the house on the basis of the alleged promises made to him by his parents.

The administrator is also claiming almost £200,000 from Robert on behalf of the estate in rent for the years he has remained in the house since first being asked to leave after his mother’s death.