Bristol woman awarded £127,500 for caring for mother at home

A Bristol woman has won a High Court award of £127,500 for caring for her mother at home, in a dispute that began when she took £100,000 from her mother’s estate after her death.

Bern Rogers cared for Sheila, who had dementia, for 850 days after she moved into her daughter’s home in 2017. Rogers said they had agreed she would be paid. In 2025, a High Court judge found that an informal contract existed and entitled her to a reasonable sum for the care; a second judge set the amount at £127,500 in August 2026.

After Sheila died in 2020, Rogers transferred the £100,000. She was reported to police and charged with fraud and theft, but a jury found her not guilty in 2022. The estate was ordered to pay her legal costs in the civil case.

The estate’s executor, Rogers’s brother Andrew Wills, said the family knew only of an agreement to pay her £50 a week and cover her expenses. He said the estate had been willing to pay genuine expenses and an additional amount for her efforts, but Rogers did not accept its offers. The estate plans to appeal the ruling on the amount awarded. The earlier ruling that she was entitled to payment is not being appealed.

Legal specialists told the BBC that the judgments could influence future disputes over family care, although the case does not automatically set a legal precedent. The award turned on the finding of an informal agreement; it does not establish that relatives are generally entitled to payment for caring for family members.