Two wives fight over bigamist husband's £1.8m after he secretly married both

Two wives are locked into a fierce inheritance battle over their dead husband's £1.8million fortune after he secretly married both of them five years apart - but failed to get a divorce.

Bigamist accountant James Dinsdale died of cancer, aged 55, in October 2020, but a raging fight over his money had sparked between a beautician and a dentist. After his death, his most recent partner, beautician Margaret Dinsdale, 41, began sorting out his affairs on the assumption that she would inherit his wealth.

The wife was left reeling in shock when she unexpectedly discovered James was still legally married to his ex-partner. It comes after a woman claimed 'I lost my husband and now I've only got 12 months to live'.

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The accountant married his latest partner in 2017 in aLas Vegaswedding but hadn't divorced his first wife - making their marriage "void" and leaving Margaret with no automatic right to inherit.

Just five years earlier, James had married St Albans-based cosmetic dentist Dr Victoria Fowell, 53, at a Vegas wedding chapel on the same street and just 600 metres from where he wed Margaret, but never got round to getting a divorce. The two women are now battling it out in the High Court after Margaret launched a claim to a share of James' money.

The most recent partner has claimed she should be treated as a "spouse" because she married him in "good faith". In a short preliminary hearing, High Court judge Master James Brightwell heard how the accountant and Second World War history expert built a fortune worth around £1.8million. James had a thriving property development business, based around central London, before he died and an estate.

Margaret's barrister Jonathan Davey KC said his client and James had met in 2008 and become friends, before beginning a "romantic relationship" in 2014, setting up home together the following year. However, she had no idea he was still married, and only learned of it after his death.

The accountant had not made a will so his £1.8million wealth would be divided between Dr Fowell and his son, William Dinsdale, 28, under intestacy rules - leaving Margaret with nothing. The barrister said: "Margaret believed that she was validly married to James Dinsdale and there is no evidence that she knew that the deceased was married to Dr Fowell as at 2017.

"She understood the marriage between the deceased and Dr Fowell to have ended some time prior to the relationship between the deceased and the claimant beginning. We have no idea what James’ state of mind was, perhaps he didn’t realise he wasn’t divorced.

"Margaret’s assertion is that she believed the deceased to be unmarried and already divorced when she married him in good faith." The case reached court for a preliminary hearing after Margaret made a claim for "reasonable provision" from James' estate under the 1975 Inheritance Act, amounting to at least half of his £1.8m.

The barrister said Margaret had looked after James "24 hours per day" during his final struggles with terminal cancer and was his "primary carer". He added: "The evidence of his close friends is that James and Margaret had a loving relationship, and that he was very grateful for her care."

He also added that James and Margaret had been together for six years, they planned to have kids together and his partner gave up work to stay at home and look after the millionaire. The barrister said: "She and James had a relatively lavish lifestyle, which was funded by his wealth and she was entirely financially dependent on the deceased. Dr Fowell and William Dinsdale were not being financially maintained by the deceased at the time of his death."

Mr Davey directed that there should now be a future hearing focusing on how James’ estate should be divided up between his two partners and son.

The court heard it is alleged that Margaret has already received £375,000 "from the estate or in sums derived from James," but Mr Davey said that is denied and that she has only received £20,000 from his pension. The judge allocated £50,000 to cash-strapped Margaret to help cover her bills and contribute towards hefty lawyers' fees.