Two British women, who married the same man in Las Vegas a few years apart, are now battling in court over control of an inheritance estimated at $2.4 million. The case highlights the legal consequences of a bigamous marriage and the protections offered by inheritance law in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
James Dinsdale, a British accountant who died of cancer at the age of 55 in October 2020, married cosmetic dentist Dr. Victoria Fowell in Las Vegas in 2012, and then, in 2017, beautician Margaret Dinsdale, also in Las Vegas, without having legally dissolved his first marriage. Legally, the second marriage to Margaret is therefore considered "null and void," which automatically excluded her from the estate, leaving Victoria, as his legally recognized wife, and James Dinsdale's son, William, as heirs to the fortune estimated at approximately \u00a31.8 million ($2.4 million).<\/p>\n
According to the Independent<\/a> , Margaret maintains that she has lived with James Dinsdale since 2015, married him "in good faith," and cared for him full-time during his illness, even giving up her job. Feeling wronged, she has filed a lawsuit seeking a "reasonable provision" under the UK Inheritance Act, and is claiming at least half of the inheritance, approximately \u00a3900,000.<\/p>\n In the absence of a will, James Dinsdale's estate was distributed according to the rules of intestacy, which prioritize the legal spouse and children. However, in July, a judge recognized Margaret's rights as his spouse under the Inheritance Act, allowing her to claim a judicial share of the estate, even though her marriage is technically void under strict matrimonial law.<\/p>\n Margaret accuses Victoria Fowell of having "plundered" the inheritance, treating the estate as if she were the sole beneficiary, and of having already sold two properties for approximately \u00a3600,000, without it being clear what happened to the remaining funds. Margaret obtained a freezing order to prevent the estate from disappearing before the end of the proceedings, which is intended to guarantee the possibility of enforcing any potential judgment in her favor.<\/p>\n Margaret's lawyer argues that she did everything "in trust," believing that James' first marriage was over, and emphasizes the psychological and financial impact of this legal battle on his client.<\/p>\n Ultimately, this case, described as "unusual," illustrates how the absence of a will, bigamy, and confusion surrounding marital status can create lengthy, costly, and emotionally destructive inheritance disputes, the outcome of which will now depend on the judge's assessment of what constitutes a "reasonable provision" for the surviving partner. To be continued...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two British women, who married the same man in Las Vegas a few years apart, are now battling...","protected":false},"author":8394,"featured_media":429671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_msn":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6136],"tags":[97333,97759,97372],"class_list":["post-429670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mariage","tag-couple","tag-news","tag-relation"],"image":{"medium":["https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Elles-ont-epouse-le-meme-homme-a-Las-Vegas\u2026-et-se-battent-aujourdhui-pour-24-millions-de-dollars-200x113.jpg",200,113,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Elles-ont-epouse-le-meme-homme-a-Las-Vegas\u2026-et-se-battent-aujourdhui-pour-24-millions-de-dollars-500x281.jpg",500,281,true]},"custom":{"td_video":"","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Elles-ont-epouse-le-meme-homme-a-Las-Vegas\u2026-et-se-battent-aujourdhui-pour-24-millions-de-dollars.jpg","author":{"name":"L\u00e9a Michel","avatar":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1721220128171-96x96.jpg"},"categories":[{"term_id":6136,"name":"Marriage","slug":"mariage","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":6308,"taxonomy":"category","description":" The Marriage section of The Body Optimist is for anyone planning a wedding or celebrating an anniversary: wedding dresses for every body type, outfits, hairstyles, planning and stories of ceremonies. It comes with one conviction: you celebrate your big day in the body you have, with no mandatory diet and no single model to follow.<\/p>\n The right wedding dress is the one you feel like yourself in, and your size doesn\u2019t change that. Before booking fittings, ask bridal shops what size range their sample gowns come in, so you\u2019re not stuck trying on dresses that are too small and held together with clips. Try several silhouettes: an empire waist, fitted under the bust and then flowing, gives you plenty of freedom to move; an A-line balances hips and shoulders; a mermaid gown highlights curves; a soft sheath moves with you as you walk. Think about lingerie, and about comfort when sitting and dancing. Start shopping several months ahead, since alterations often take several appointments. And nothing says you have to wear white, or even a dress.<\/p>\n For us, getting married is one choice among many: a civil partnership, living together without marrying or staying single are just as valid. When it comes to wedding prep, we reject the \u201cshedding for the wedding\u201d countdown so often pushed on brides-to-be: the dress gets altered to fit the body, not the other way around. Our articles feature brides of all sizes, couples from all walks of life and ceremonies that look like the people getting married.<\/p>\n Each anniversary has a traditional theme, usually a material that grows more precious over time: paper for the first year, cotton for the second, leather for the third, wood for the fifth, tin for the 10th, china for the 20th, silver for the 25th, pearl for the 30th, ruby for the 40th, gold for the 50th and diamond for the 60th. Lists vary by country, and modern versions exist.<\/p>\n No. Nothing requires you to change your body to get married, and crash diets before the big day can bring fatigue, stress and the yo-yo effect. It\u2019s better to choose a dress that fits your body as it is now and schedule a final fitting a few weeks before the ceremony. Sleep, regular meals and time to breathe will serve you far better.<\/p>\n All three can frame a shared life, but legal protections differ by type of union and by country. In many places, marriage gives spouses stronger rights in areas such as inheritance, survivor benefits or shared property, while other partnerships may offer fewer protections but can be ended more simply. Before deciding, check the laws where you live or ask a family law attorney.<\/p>\n Keep exploring: find all our sex and relationship topics<\/a>, everyday couple life in Love life<\/a>, and desire and pleasure, honeymoon included, in Sexuality<\/a>.<\/p>","parent":6135,"count":100,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":6136,"category_count":100,"category_description":" The Marriage section of The Body Optimist is for anyone planning a wedding or celebrating an anniversary: wedding dresses for every body type, outfits, hairstyles, planning and stories of ceremonies. It comes with one conviction: you celebrate your big day in the body you have, with no mandatory diet and no single model to follow.<\/p>\n The right wedding dress is the one you feel like yourself in, and your size doesn\u2019t change that. Before booking fittings, ask bridal shops what size range their sample gowns come in, so you\u2019re not stuck trying on dresses that are too small and held together with clips. Try several silhouettes: an empire waist, fitted under the bust and then flowing, gives you plenty of freedom to move; an A-line balances hips and shoulders; a mermaid gown highlights curves; a soft sheath moves with you as you walk. Think about lingerie, and about comfort when sitting and dancing. Start shopping several months ahead, since alterations often take several appointments. And nothing says you have to wear white, or even a dress.<\/p>\n For us, getting married is one choice among many: a civil partnership, living together without marrying or staying single are just as valid. When it comes to wedding prep, we reject the \u201cshedding for the wedding\u201d countdown so often pushed on brides-to-be: the dress gets altered to fit the body, not the other way around. Our articles feature brides of all sizes, couples from all walks of life and ceremonies that look like the people getting married.<\/p>\n Each anniversary has a traditional theme, usually a material that grows more precious over time: paper for the first year, cotton for the second, leather for the third, wood for the fifth, tin for the 10th, china for the 20th, silver for the 25th, pearl for the 30th, ruby for the 40th, gold for the 50th and diamond for the 60th. Lists vary by country, and modern versions exist.<\/p>\n No. Nothing requires you to change your body to get married, and crash diets before the big day can bring fatigue, stress and the yo-yo effect. It\u2019s better to choose a dress that fits your body as it is now and schedule a final fitting a few weeks before the ceremony. Sleep, regular meals and time to breathe will serve you far better.<\/p>\n All three can frame a shared life, but legal protections differ by type of union and by country. In many places, marriage gives spouses stronger rights in areas such as inheritance, survivor benefits or shared property, while other partnerships may offer fewer protections but can be ended more simply. Before deciding, check the laws where you live or ask a family law attorney.<\/p>\n Keep exploring: find all our sex and relationship topics<\/a>, everyday couple life in Love life<\/a>, and desire and pleasure, honeymoon included, in Sexuality<\/a>.<\/p>","cat_name":"Marriage","category_nicename":"mariage","category_parent":6135}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8394"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429670"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":429733,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429670\/revisions\/429733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ma-grande-taille.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} The role of the Inheritance Act and the question of "spouse" status<\/h2>\n
Accusations against the first wife and freezing of assets<\/h2>\n
A harrowing case with an uncertain outcome.<\/h2>\n
What you\u2019ll find in the Marriage section<\/h2>\n
\n
How do you choose a wedding dress for your body type?<\/h2>\n
Our approach<\/h2>\n
Where to start<\/h2>\n
\n
Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
What are the traditional wedding anniversary gifts?<\/h3>\n
Do you need to lose weight before your wedding?<\/h3>\n
Marriage, civil union or living together: what\u2019s the difference?<\/h3>\n
What you\u2019ll find in the Marriage section<\/h2>\n
\n
How do you choose a wedding dress for your body type?<\/h2>\n
Our approach<\/h2>\n
Where to start<\/h2>\n
\n
Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
What are the traditional wedding anniversary gifts?<\/h3>\n
Do you need to lose weight before your wedding?<\/h3>\n
Marriage, civil union or living together: what\u2019s the difference?<\/h3>\n