A widow has been hit with a hefty legal bill after losing a court fight with her dead husband's first wife in a row over her mother-in-law's lucrative estate.
Maya Gocheva-Ash, 42, was hit with a £50,000 bill after losing a court fight with pensioner Cindy Ash over the meaning of the word 'wife' in a will made by the mother of the man they both loved and married, Don Ash.
Tech company boss Don divorced his first wife Cindy, 73, from Harpenden, in 2013 after leaving her for Maya - a woman 31 years younger than her.
He and Maya had a daughter together and married in 2015, two years after his divorce but Don died aged just 60 in November 2017.
The unexpected death of the broadcast engineer - who worked on the launch of Channel 4 in 1982 before setting up his own company - led to a court fight between the women over his half of the £840,000 estate of his mother, Joyce Appleby.
In her will, made ten years before her death in 2019, she stated that should her son die before her, his half of her money should go 'to his wife Cindy Ash' - with the other half going to Don's brother Gordon.
But by the time Joyce died, Cindy was no longer Don's wife, leading to a High Court fight between the two wives over their interpretation of the will.
Maya Gocheva-Ash, 42, was hit with a £50,000 court bill after losing her legal battle over an £840,000 will with her dead husband's ex-wife
Mrs Gocheva-Ash argued that as Don's wife at the time of his death, the cash should go to her.
But Cindy argued that despite being Don's ex she was meant to get the money as she was specifically named in the will and enjoyed a 'mother-daughter relationship' with Joyce, even after splitting with her son.
A court was told that Joyce 'had never liked that bloody woman' and 'disapproved' of Maya and Don's relationship.
But Maya denied that she and Joyce didn't get on, with her barrister Nazar Mohammed arguing that she should inherit because the 'will is ambiguous and/or equivocal as to the meaning of the phrase 'his wife'.'
'Upon divorce, Cindy ceased to be Don's wife. All ties of kinship were severed,' he continued.
'The description of the 'wife' was to emphasise kinship and to ensure that the deceased's estate provided for the family.
'The description 'Cynthia Ash' is no more than a statement of fact showing that she was Don's wife at the time the will was executed.
