The son of Sir Stirling Moss claimed his mother ‘squandered and stole’ millions of pounds that were earmarked for him in his father’s estate, court documents reveal.
The Formula 1 racing star’s son and daughter, Elliot Moss, 45, and Allison Bradley, 59, are locked in a bitter legal row over the £22million left after his death at the age of 90 in April 2020.
At the heart of the dispute is Sir Stirling’s third wife, Lady Susie Moss, who inherited the vast majority of his fortune.
When she died at the age of 69 in 2023, it emerged that her will – made in January 2022 – left her entire estate to Allison, Sir Stirling’s daughter from his second marriage to Elaine Barbarino.
Elliot Moss, whose mother is Lady Susie, lodged a caveat with the probate registry preventing the administration of her estate, prompting Allison to begin legal proceedings seeking to force the execution of the will.
But Elliot Moss, who trained as a chef under Michel Roux Jr, then launched a counterclaim contesting the validity of the document.
Legal documents filed at the High Court detail a series of extraordinary accusations made by him, including alleged attempts to ‘poison’ his mother’s thinking.
Elliot Moss has also accused Lady Susie of going against his father’s wishes by not granting the majority of the estate to him.
Sir Stirling Moss and his wife Susie, accompanied by Elliot and Allison, as he collected his knighthood at Buckingham Palace
Sir Stirling is seen at his wedding to Lady Susie in 1980
Elliot at a thanksgiving for his father at Westminster Abbey in 2020
He said in the submissions to the court that his sister Allison, who was brought up by her own mother, always had a ‘strained’ relationship with Lady Susie.
He also claimed the pair only saw each other once or twice a year before 2017, but in the three years leading up to Sir Stirling’s death she visited less than a dozen times.
Allison replied to Elliot Moss’s legal claim last week, branding some of the accusations as ’embarrassing’ in filed documents, The Times has reported.
She said that her father, who had been suffering from Alzheimer’s before his death, had always encouraged her to see herself as a ‘member of the Moss family’.
Ms Bradley’s lawyer, Constance McDonnell KC, added in her 38-page submission that her client’s relationship with Lady Susie was ‘loving and dependable’.
In contrast, it is alleged that Elliot Moss’s relationship with his parents was ‘turbulent’ and at times ‘difficult’.
Ms Bradley added that he became more distant with his mother after his father’s death and that he often talked about Lady Susie in ‘a hostile and derogatory manner’.
In his defence, Elliot Moss has claimed in court documents that the 2022 will left by his mother is invalid.
The racing legend is pictured in Monaco. He died at the age of 90 in April 2020
Sir Stirling’s 1962 crash at Goodwood put him in a month-long coma and ended his top-level racing career
He has said she did not have the capacity to execute the document and that it was obtained under ‘undue influence’ by family friend Richard Frankel.
Elliot Moss alleged that Frankel, who was named as a trustee of Lady Susie’s estate after her death, supplied his mother with alcohol and turned her against him.
He said that after his father died she would often consume one or two bottles of wine and half a bottle of gin a day.
In his legal submission, Elliot Moss’s lawyer describes a November 2021 email written to Frankel, who is not part of the case.
Elliot Moss said: ‘Mum has robbed me of an incredible amount of things that my father had meant for me to have — literally millions squandered and stolen, as well as hugely valuable emotional items that have caused, and continue to cause, me enormous distress.’
He has called for his mother’s 2002 will to be recognised by the court, which would see him receive 75 per cent of the estate and his half sister 25 per cent.
A hearing date has not been set at the High Court.
