A farmer is being sued by his mother in a bitter court fight over the £6 million family estate he believes was promised to him since he was a schoolboy.
Peter Horsford, 54, claims he gave up a normal childhood to labour on the 540-acre farm in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire from the age of 10, as his parents assured him: “This will be yours one day”.
But his mother, Marian Horsford, 88, is demanding more than £2.5 million for her share in the estate, denying that such promises were made and insisting his labour was normal for a farm boy.
Mr Horsford has refused to pay, accusing his mother of “reneging on her lifetime of assurances”, the High Court heard.
The dispute began in 2016 when Mrs Horsford retired from the family farming partnership and asked for payment for her share of the estate, which includes a wind farm.
She had split from Mr Horsford’s father, Davis, in 2011, and he now has dementia. Mr Horsford, who lives with his wife on a farm lodge, told the court he worked long hours on the land as a boy and “didn’t see much of my friends during the holidays at all”.
He said: “I was always working with my father or grandfather from very early in the morning until the evening. I enjoyed being with my dad but at the age of 10 or 11 I didn’t have a big social life.”
Christopher Stoner QC said the parents’ promises were “unequivocal”.
Mr Horsford worked full-time on the farm from 1987 and had an eye removed after a golfing accident in 1997 “so that he could return to his work on the farm as quickly as possible”.
Stephen Jourdain QC, for Mrs Horsford, said her son had become wealthy as a result of choosing to farm with his parents, and any “family understanding” that he would inherit the entire estate was never “set in stone”.
He added: “It’s standard in every farming family for children to help out.”
He said Mrs Horsford had considered leaving her share to her daughter, Liz, but any dispute of inheritance is premature as “Marian has not died”.
The trial continues.
