The widow and daughter of a British adventurer who died in a Peruvian avalanche are engaged in a High Court dispute over his £10 million estate.
Paul Samuel, 55, was remembered as “an adventurer in a slightly old-fashioned sense”. He was killed in June 2018 when an avalanche struck Alpamayo, a 19,511ft mountain in the Peruvian Andes. A Slovenian climber and their local guide also died in the incident.
The explorer, writer and entrepreneur left a fortune estimated at £10 million. Under the terms of his will, the estate was intended to be divided broadly equally between his partner, Ana Lesiak Samuel, 59, and his daughter from an earlier relationship, Kate Samuel, 25.
Yet eight years after his death, the two women remain locked in a bitter disagreement over the inheritance. The court has heard claims of a “difficult relationship”, reportedly worsened when Ana allegedly refused to let Kate’s mother attend Paul Samuel’s memorial service.
The High Court in London was told this week that disputes between the beneficiaries and the lawyer overseeing the estate have contributed to years of delay in distributing the fortune.
Samuel’s achievements included sailing across the South China Sea, trekking through the jungles of Borneo and climbing Mount Everest. He also wrote Find Your Own Mountains, a collection of 18 letters reflecting on his life and adventures, written for Kate’s 18th birthday. The book was published in the months following his death.
Explorer Paul Blelock Samuel was killed by an avalanche on Alpamayo in the Peruvian Andes in 2018, leaving an estate worth £10 million
Ana Samuel is seeking to remain an executor, claiming she has been obstructed by Paul Samuel’s daughter Kate and the lawyer handling the estate
Judge Master Francesca Kaye heard that much of Samuel’s wealth, including Bank Farm near Whitchurch, Shropshire, valued at £780,000, was placed in a trust under the terms of his will. The arrangement provides for Kate and Ana to receive equal shares.
Part of the inheritance has already been transferred. Kate has received a £1 million payment, while Ana was given the farm and another property, the court was told.
However, the pair—who were said to have been “not close” even before Samuel’s death—are now opposing each other in proceedings involving will trustee and solicitor Anna Unett.
The inheritance dispute previously came before the High Court in 2023, when disagreements arose over the value of estate assets and the way they should be divided. Ana then unsuccessfully sought the removal of Mrs Unett and Samuel’s father, Peter, as trustees. Peter has since died.
Although the court issued instructions on how the assets were to be allocated, the conflict has continued.
Mrs Unett, supported by Kate, is now asking for Ana to be removed as executor and as a co-trustee of the will trust. She accuses Ana of prolonging the process and increasing costs for the estate.
Ana is resisting the application and wants to retain her position, arguing that Samuel specifically intended for her to oversee his estate.
Kate Samuel is seeking to have her father’s wife, Ana Samuel, removed as executor of his will
Lawyer Anna Unett has been accused by Ana Samuel of deliberately blocking her access to documents relating to the estate
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Julie Case, representing Kate, accused Ana of trying to “delay and frustrate the proper and efficient administration of the estate”.
She told the court: “Kate believes that Ana is unsuitable to act as an executor. The relationship between Ana and Kate has been strained for some time.
“Ana has caused difficulties and delays since the April 2023 hearing. She appears to be unable—whether deliberately or otherwise—to deal with matters in a straightforward and transparent manner.”
The court heard that Mr Samuel’s will created two trusts, of which both Ana and Kate were to be equal beneficiaries. Ms Case said the aim had been to create a ‘clean break between them… having regard of the difficult relationship’.
She concluded: ‘It is Kate’s position that, but for Ana’s conduct since the April 2023 order, all the distributions would now have been made and the administration of the estate would have been completed some time ago.
‘Kate wants to see the administration of the estate concluded as quickly as possible and with minimal cost to the estate. The deceased never intended Ana to act as the sole executor.’
Mr Samuel penned a book, Find Your Own Mountains, collecting 18 letters he had written for Kate’s 18th birthday. It was published in the months after his death
But Alexander Learmonth KC, for Ana, told the judge that she denies being at fault for the delay and insists she is the right person to be in charge of the estate as that is what her dead husband wanted.
‘Ana resists her removal as executor: there is simply no proper ground for doing so,’ he said, labelling the ask a ‘drastic step’.
‘Ana experienced a period of poor mental health in 2024 following her bereavement, but… that has fully resolved,’ he said, adding that she had driven the publication of his book and had been raising funds for a school in Nepal in his memory.
Blaming Mrs Unett, the lawyer, for the delay, he said Ana had been denied access to vital estate documents, delaying the administration of the £10million fortune.
‘Mrs Unett says that the estate administration is almost complete. If so, then Ana, as the appointed and properly constituted executor, should simply be allowed to complete it,’ he said.
For Mrs Unett, barrister Mark Baxter claimed administration and distribution of the estate had in fact been ‘delayed and complicated by Ana’s conduct’.
‘Generally, Ana’s approach to all matters related to the estate is uncooperative, if not combative,’ he told the judge.
‘The only person with any interest in the matter who wishes Ana to remain in office is Ana herself.’
Following a half day hearing, the case was adjourned, but is due to return to court at a later date.