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Emma McDaniel's dad Mark Talbot walked out of her life when she was just eight-months-old
Richard GittinsWednesday 03 December 2025 08:35 GMT
open image in galleryEmma McDaniel outside London's High Court during a will fight with her stepmother (Champion News)
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A mum of two surviving on benefits after she was left nothing in her millionaire dad's will is fighting her stepmother for a payout from his £1.75m estate.
Emma McDaniel's dad Mark Talbot walked out of her life when she was aged just eight months, going on to make himself a millionaire through his property investments and successful businesses.
When he made his last will in 2014, he specifically made a point of cutting her out, saying he had not seen her for 20 years and had no contact with her.
But five years later in 2019, the pair met and belatedly developed a "close" relationship which lasted up until his death in October 2022.
Emma, 40, who has two disabled children and health problems of her own, runs a business, but makes only £5,000 a year in wages, relying on a "complicated cocktail" of benefits to survive.
She is now suing her dad's wife Rosemary Talbot - who was handed the whole of Mr Talbot's fortune under his will - claiming that she should be given a payout as "reasonable provision" from her dad's seven-figure estate.
London's High Court heard that Mr Talbot had left Emma's mum when she was just eight months old in 1985 and had never even met Emma's brother Rhys, who was born after his departure.
open image in galleryPicture shows Rosemary Talbot outside London's High Court during a will fight (Champion News)He went on to have a 36-year relationship with new wife Rosemary Talbot, with whom he had two more children.
Mr Talbot sold a successful courier business in 1997 and went on to increase his fortune through a string of property investments and part ownership of Berkshire estate agents Cricketts.
As well as his home, Carbrook, in Curridge, Thatcham, Berks, by the time he died unexpectedly in October 2022, he had a string of rental properties and a £450,000 villa in Portugal.
The court heard that, although they spoke on the phone when she was 16, Emma did not see her dad after he walked out until 2019 when he contacted her at the behest of his mother.
The pair belatedly formed a "close" relationship, including holidaying together at his villa, Judge Caroline Shea KC was told.
Mr Talbot had made a will in May 2014, leaving everything to Rosemary and specifically excluding Emma and Rhys, saying: “I DECLARE that I have NOT made any provision in my Will for my son Rhys Winstone whom I have never met nor my daughter Emma Winstone who I last saw about twenty years ago. I do not have contact with either of them.”
By the time of his sudden and unexpected death in 2022, that will remained unchanged, despite father and daughter reconnecting.
Aiden O'Brien, for Emma, told the court that she is now applying for "reasonable financial provision" from her dad's estate to allow her to buy a home suited to the needs of her children and pay off her £50,000 debts.
"In 1985, the deceased decided to cut ties with the claimant, her brother and mother. Clearly, this was not the claimant’s wish, nor was it in her control," he said.
"In 2019, the deceased sought out the claimant with a view to re-establishing a more normal father/daughter relationship.
"Whilst it is recognised that the deceased explicitly declined to provide for the claimant under the terms of the will, this was executed in 2014, at a time when a meaningful rapprochement was not in anticipation.
"The deceased died unexpectedly. It cannot be said that the views he expressed so firmly in 2014 pertained by the time of his passing.
"Emma is married with two children, both of whom have a constellation of disabilities. The claimant’s husband also suffers from heart and spinal problems.
"Unfortunately, the claimant also has her own health issues, including spinal problems, autism, ADHD, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and burn-out.
"The claimant lives with her family in a three-bedroom housing association property and they rely on an array of state benefits, supplemented by her modest business income.
"Emma and her family receive a complicated cocktail of state support, including Universal Credit, PIP, Child Benefit and Disability Living Allowance.
"The deceased’s net estate is relatively large, at circa £1,750,000.
"Emma avers that there is sufficient ‘head room’ to make an order in her favour, without causing any injustice to Rosemary.
"In stark contrast to the claimant, Rosemary has confirmed that she is in relatively good health and has no disabilities."
open image in galleryPicture shows Emma McDaniel outside London's High Court during a will fight with her stepmother (Champion News)George Woodhead, for Rosemary, however argued that the will should be folllowed and she should get nothing.
"After payment of funeral and testamentary expenses, the residue of the estate was bequeathed to Rosemary alone," he told the judge.
"It is submitted that Mark did not fail to make reasonable financial provision for Emma.
"It is submitted that it would be inappropriate to make an award."
He said Emma has earning capacity and that her father had not provided her with financial support or assumed any responsibility to maintain her while he was alive.
He had also been clear in that he did not want to leave anything for his children, including those he had with Rosemary, the barrister continued.
The estate also represented the "joint efforts" of Mark and Rosemary, since his focus on business "stopped Rosemary's earning ability," and effectively was her "pension."
With Emma in the witness box, Mr Woodhead put to her that she had not been financially reliant on her father, telling her: "Mark's death had no impact whatsoever on your resources."
"I wouldn't agree with that," she replied, weeping as she told the judge that whilst she had previously managed to survive despite her difficulties, the death of her father had made things more difficult.
"It impacted my ability to work," she said.
"It's difficult to quantify. The grief was complex and it continues to be complex. It's impacted my anxiety, fear for my own health and what that means.
"I spent a really long time working very hard to prove that I was good enough. In many ways, his death took away my purpose.
"I didn't have long enough to recover from my dad not being in my life and feeling not worthy to him being gone again."
Following a two-day trial, the judge judgement in the case to be given at a later date.
