Live-in housekeeper tried to marry millionaire on his deathbed to keep his fortune, court hears

Chamberlayne Rd in Kensal Rise where Bok Soon Song claims to have lived as a couple with John Williams. Photo / Google

A live-in houskeeper tried to marry a millionaire on his deathbed in a bid to keep his fortune, a British court heard. She then changed the locks on his home after his death to keep it from his children.

Bok Soon Song, 72, is at the centre of a court battle over the estate of John Williams. She claims she was more than his carer, and insisted they were a loving couple.

But Central London County Court heard 66-year-old Williams died intestate - without making a valid will - and so his fortune would normally be split between his three children, Deborah John-Woodruffe and her brothers, David and Andrew Williams.

After his death from bowel cancer in 2016, Bok changed the locks on his Kensal Rise home and began a claim to over £500,000 from his £1m-plus fortune.

John-Woodruffe, however, claims Bok was nothing more than a "live-in housekeeper" who took advantage of her dying dad.

Deborah John-Woodruffe is seeking Bok Soon Song's removal from her father's house.

Despite barely speaking enough English to communicate, she says the former waitress tried to tie the knot with Williams in hospital, only for the pensioner to send her and the registrar packing.

Representing the daughter, barrister Barry Coulter said Bok had "sought to marry" Williams as he lay gravely ill in hospital, going as far as calling in a registrar to perform the ceremony.

"Mrs John-Woodruffe's case is that no part in this was played by the deceased and, when the wedding party arrived, he sent them on their way," he told Judge Marc Dight.

The court heard Bok moved to the UK from South Korea in 1983 and worked as a waitress, and later as a manager, in restaurants.

She met Korean food lover and engineer Williams in the early 1990s through mutual friends and, she claims, began a long-term relationship with him.

Although Bok is suing all three siblings, only John-Woodruffe is represented by lawyers and she is the one party seeking Bok's removal from the property.

The hearing continues.