Kevin Pickering v Rhona Richardson
| Jurisdiction | Anguilla |
| Judge | Moise, J. |
| Judgment Date | 10 November 2023 |
| Neutral Citation | AI 2023 HC 2 |
| Docket Number | CLAIM NO: AXAHCV2021/0031 |
| Court | High Court (Saint Christopher, Nevis And Anguilla) |
| Year | 2023 |
EASTERN CARIBBEAN SUPREME COURT
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
(CIVIL)
His Lordship The Honourable Justice Ermin Moise
CLAIM NO: AXAHCV2021/0031
(as a beneficiary in the estate of John Waddington Hodge)
(as the Personal Representative for the Estate of John Waddington Hodge, deceased)
Mr. Kevin Pickering in person and self-represented
Mr. D. Michael Bourne for the defendant
On 14 th July, 2021, the claimant filed a Fixed Date Claim seeking a determination as to the meaning or interpretation of “the land within the curtilage thereof” as used in Clause 6 of the Last Will and Testament of Mr. John Waddington Hodge. Despite the narrow nature of what has been claimed, the matter has taken a rather contentious course. It is hoped therefore that this judgment would go some way in reducing the temperature and ensuring that some measure of finality can be brought to what has been a much longer process in administering a broader estate which had been left un-administered for a number of generations.
Mr. John Waddington Hodge (Mr. Hodge) died on 29 th September, 1996 and left a last will and testament dated 23 rd June, 1996. In Clause 6 of that will, Mr. Hodge left his interest in “the dwelling house and contents at Long Bay and the land within the curtilage thereof” to Mr. Kevin Pickering, the claimant. In that will, Mr. Hodge described Mr. Pickering as his foster son. Also of importance to the issues at hand, are two other clauses in Mr. Hodge's will. These are Clauses 5 and 8. In Clause 5, Mr. Hodge devised his rights and interest in the Richardson and Hodge's Estate to his great nephews Euston and Yanick Richardson. In Clause 8 he devised the remainder and residue of his estate to his great nephews Euston and Yanick Richardson, as well as his nephew Mr. Oliver Hodge. At that point, the property upon which the house devised to Mr. Pickering is built formed part of the Hodge Estate.
Before coming to a conclusion on the interpretation of the various clauses in this will, it is important to recount a brief history of Mr. Hodge's ownership and occupation of the land in question. This is because at the time of his death, Mr. Hodge was not the owner in title to the premises which are now the subject of this dispute. In fact, the property can be considered to be family land at the time and formed part of an estate which went back at least two generations prior to Mr. Hodge's. Although somewhat contrary to his actual pleadings and what he had to say in his closing arguments, some of the property which Mr. Pickering insisted at trial should be vested in him as part of the curtilage of the house devised to him was not vested in Mr. Hodge's estate; even after what can best be described as a rather long and intricate process in administering three (3) generations of family lands. Given that Mr. Pickering is unrepresented and expressed some disagreement with the extent of what ought to have been pleaded by his previous attorney, I will address the issues raised so as to attempt to bring some clarity to the case in general.
As I understand it, Mr. John Waddington Hodge was one of a number of children of Mr. John Charles Hodge. Mr. John Charles Hodge was himself a son and beneficiary in the estate of Mr. Thomas Henry Hodge. At the time of his death, John Charles Hodge was a co-executor of the estate of his father. It is apparent from the evidence that Thomas Hodge's estate was never fully administered by the time John Waddington Hodge himself passed away in 1996. In any event, John Charles Hodge came to occupy a portion of land in his father's estate and it also appears that this portion of land was considered by the family to belong to him. For the purposes of this claim, the portion of land which came to John Charles Hodge's estate which is the subject of this dispute was that parcel of land registered in the Land Registry of Anguilla as Block 18011B Parcel 56. That parcel of land was not formally vested in John Charles Hodge's estate until 30 th October, 2015.
It is apparent from the evidence that John Charles Hodge occupied this land and built his home on it. At the time of his death there was a house erected on that land which is referred to as the family home. In his last will and testament, John Charles Hodge, at clause 3, bequeathed to his wife, Jemima Hodge and all his children, “…the dwelling house to be enjoyed by all…” As such, this home was never devised or vested in any one of his children in particular. The house was a wooden house, with a cistern constructed nearby. There was also an outdoor kitchen and I understand that there was a hot stone oven on the outside which was used for cooking. By Mr. Pickering's own account, this house sat on an expanse of land measuring slightly less than three (3) acres in total.
I find as a matter of fact that the family had generally occupied and enjoyed this home together. However, it is also apparent from the evidence that John Waddington Hodge occupied this house for some time after his father's death. It is not clear from precisely when he began to live there exclusively. However, there is no evidence to suggest that any of his siblings objected to this. He too was a co-executor of his father's will and did not take steps during his lifetime to administer the will, nor did he appear to stake any particular claim to any of the land in question insofar as attempting to obtain legal title to it in his own right.
The evidence presented in this case also suggests that, as it relates to both the house and land, the property was enjoyed by the family in general. Mr. John Waddington Hodge cultivated portions of the property. So did his brother Garfield Hodge, who also erected a pen for his sheep on the land. In his own affidavit in support of the claim, Mr. Pickering accepted at paragraph 10 that the land was enjoyed by all the family. He states precisely that “[w]hile my adopted father was alive, Parcel 301 was always used in its entirety for family purposes.” Whilst it is true that Mr. John Waddington Hodge continued to live on the premises, I am prepared to find as a matter of fact that he did not exclusively occupy or enjoy the benefits of the land in general. Those were enjoyed by other members of the family as well.
Sometime in the 1980s Mr. John Waddington Hodge constructed his own house on the property. His home was built within close proximity to the old family house. He continued to use the cistern of the family home and occupied the premises in much the same way as he always did, along with members of the family.
Prior to Mr. Hodge constructing his home, Mr. Pickering came to live with him. That was in 1975. At the time Mr. Pickering was only 11 years old. It is unclear to me as to the true nature of the relationship and how it is that Mr. Pickering came to live with Mr. Hodge. Mr. Pickering described himself in the pleadings as an adopted son. However, it is apparent that there was never any formal adoption. In the last will and testament he was described by Mr. Hodge as a foster son. Whatever the relationship, Mr. Pickering resided with Mr. Hodge until 1983, at which point he migrated out of Anguilla; first to Saint Martin and then to the United States. He resided there for many years until his recent return to Anguilla.
The exact year of the construction of Mr. Hodge's house was not clear from the evidence, but it appears to have been built from at least 1980. However, I note that Mr. Pickering left the island in 1983. It is unlikely therefore that he resided at this particular house for any extended period of time. Although there was some intimation in the evidence that Mr. Hodge only took Mr. Pickering in to help him out as a young boy, he obviously felt some affinity to Mr. Pickering as he in fact made express provision for him in his will.
However, Mr. Hodge died in September, 1996 having never administered his father's estate. In fact, at that point even the estate of Thomas Hodge had remained unadministered. It was therefore left to the members of the family and those to whom probates and grants of letters of administration had been made to administer three generations of estates. It is not necessary to go into detail of the facts of those processes. It would suffice to say that the estates seemed to relate to vast expanses of land and the court's intervention was sought on a number of occasions. As it relates to Mr. John Waddington Hodge's estate, the Executor, Mr. Oliver Hodge was eventually replaced by the defendant, Ms. Rhona Richardson (Ms. Richardson), by way of court order, in 2004. She was however not the administrator of John Charles Hodge's estate. It is apparent therefore, that the administration of those three (3) estates was a long and drawn out process which was not completed until more than 25 years after Mr. Hodge's own death.
In the end, Parcel 56 was vested in the estate of John Charles Hodge. That parcel of land would have therefore been subdivided into the estates of his children, to whom he had jointly devised the benefits and interest in his estate 1. The land was therefore subdivided into separate parcels; that is Parcels 300 to 304. Of those parcels of land, Parcel 301 was vested in the estate of John Waddington Hodge.
It is on this Parcel 301, the house of John Waddington Hodge is located. The old family home, or what is left of its foundation, along with the cistern remained on Parcel 301. At this stage Mr. John Waddington Hodge's house is in a very dilapidated state. I understand that it may not have been occupied since Mr. Hodge's death. The court visited the site and observed that although he had died since 1996, Mr. Hodge's clothes still remain in wardrobes on the property. It has not been maintained since then and Mr. Pickering...
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