Gabriela Teixeira, a Brazilian‑born birth doula, successfully challenged a series of trust documents that had removed £3 million of property from her late husband Abbas Moaven's estate, prompting a High Court ruling that the documents were a sham and restoring the assets to the family.
A high‑profile inheritance dispute has been settled in favour of Gabriela Teixeira, a 51‑year‑old birth doula who was originally excluded from her late husband Abbas Moaven's £5 million estate.
The Brazilian‑born yoga teacher and mother of two had believed she would inherit a substantial share after Moaven, a successful investor and restaurateur, died of cancer in 2012. However, weeks before his death, Moaven had signed a series of trust documents that purported to allocate four London properties - worth more than £3 million at the time - to his mother and his brother Amir.
The documents were presented as a genuine redistribution of ownership, effectively removing the bulk of the assets from the estate that Gabriela and her children, Elis (22) and Aryan (19), expected to receive. In a lengthy High Court hearing, Gabriela and her children challenged the validity of those declarations, arguing that they were fabricated to deprive the widow of her rightful share.
Deputy Master Timothy Bowles agreed, describing the trust papers as a "fiction" and ruling that the properties must be restored to Abbas' estate and thus to Gabriela and her children. The judge concluded that the trusts were a sham designed to circumvent the deceased's intention to leave the majority of his wealth to his family. The case shed light on the complex dynamics of family wealth and the lengths to which relatives may go to protect assets.
Abbas and his brother Amir had emigrated from Iran in 1982, initially establishing a clothing shop in West London before moving into the mobile phone market and later the restaurant business. Over the years they accumulated a portfolio of high‑end properties in areas such as Holland Park, Kensington and Queen's Gate. Gabriela first met Abbas at his restaurant The Gate near Notting Hill Gate in 2000, and the two married in 2002.
She later described her work as a birth doula, emphasizing a commitment to supporting families during the most vulnerable moments of life, a role she described as a "call to serve" following the birth of her first child. During the trial, Gabriela's barrister Alexander Learmonth KC highlighted that, had the trust documents been upheld, the estate would likely have become insolvent due to existing debts and the loss of the valuable property assets.
He presented meeting notes from Abbas' solicitor showing Amir's concerns that Gabriela might "disappear to Brazil" with the children, and his attempts to "regularise" the affairs while Abbas was gravely ill in hospital. The court found these notes indicative of a scheme to lock the assets away from the widow rather than a genuine family arrangement. The High Court's decision restores the four properties to the estate, ensuring that Gabriela, Elis and Aryan receive the inheritance originally intended by Abbas.
The ruling underscores the importance of clear and enforceable estate planning and serves as a cautionary tale for families navigating wealth transfers amid illness and death
Inheritance Dispute High Court Ruling Family Trust Fraud Property Assets Birth Doula
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