The step-daughters of an elderly couple found dead together at home are at war and must prove whose parent died first to grab a £300,000 inheritance in the first case of its kind in Britain for 70 years.
Anna Winter and Deborah Cutler have gone to the High Court to fight over the house and cash left by John Scarle, 79, and his wife Ann, 69, after they perished in Leigh-on-Sea in October 2016 days after their 26th wedding anniversary.
Mr and Mrs Scarle were found dead of hypothermia in their run-down Essex bungalow after worried neighbours called in the police having not seen them for several days.
Their children from previous marriages have asked a judge to decide whose parent died first so they can secure the inheritance worth more than a quarter of a million pounds.
Ms Winter and Ms Cutler are using evidence from neighbours who saw their parents last, opened post found inside the house including cards for their 26th wedding anniversary in October 2016 and the condition of their bodies when discovered.
If Mr Scarle died first then his wife would have briefly inherited his share of the £300,000 inheritance - meaning Mrs Scarle's child Deborah Cutler would be next in line.
But if Mrs Scarle perished first then Mr Scarle's daughter Anna Winter should receive the nest egg, the High Court heard.
The highly unusual case is the first of its kind in the UK since the 1950s - but were more common during the Second World War to settle inheritance disputes when families were all killed by the same bomb during the London Blitz.
Anna Winter (left) and Deborah Cutler (right) have gone to the High Court to fight over the house and cash left by John and Ann Scarle after they perished in Leigh-on-Sea in October 2016
The rare case centres on which of their parents died first - that will influence where the £300,000 inheritance ends up
Mr and Mrs Scarle - who each had children from previous marriages - both died from hypothermia.
A law to help determine who died when couples or families perished at the same time was introduced in 1926 but legal rows date back to 1793 in Britain.
It is known as the ‘Commorientes Rule’ and has been used in the Second World War and other cases where couples or families died in the same incident, like a Blitz bombing for example.
The Commorientes Rule makes provision for where two or more people die in the same circumstance and their order of death cannot be ascertained.
If post-mortem examinations and evidence given to police cannot decide the question - then a judge will use the Rule, which always assumes the deaths occurred in order of seniority - ie the eldest person involved died first and the youngest last.
For example, if person A was aged 60 at death and person B was 59, then if they both died in an incident and it was impossible to say who died first, then the law would presume that person A died first.
This would mean that person B would inherit from person A’s Will and person B's family will inherit the cash.
Like most married couples, the Scarles held their home as joint tenants.
Under joint tenancies, when one dies, their share automatically passes to the other.
In this case, whichever of the couple died first will have passed their share to the other, however briefly.
That would mean it would be the heirs of the longer surviving party who would stand to inherit.
In cases where it is not certain who died first, the Act in question sets up a ‘presumption’ that the older died first.
The claimant in this case says there is enough evidence that it was the younger - Mrs Scarle - who died first and so the family of the husband should inherit.
The family of whichever of the couple survived longest is set to inherit the £280,000 house lock, stock and barrel - with their step-siblings getting nothing, the High Court heard.
John Scarle's daughter, Anna Winter, insists that her step-mother probably died first, which would mean her dad briefly inherited his wife's share
