Real-life Cinderella says her two half-sisters grabbed her share of £120,000 inheritance after their father fell to his death
By Jack Crone for MailOnline23:58 31 May 2015, updated 10:23 01 Jun 2015
Real-life Cinderella: Sasha Cochrane says her two older half-sisters tried to cheat her out of her inheritance when her father died in an accident
It may seem like a far-fetched fairytale - but for one young woman, the story of Cinderella has taken on a grim new reality.
When Sasha Cochrane's father Peter died after falling 30ft from scaffolding, no will was written - but a life insurance policy meant that she, her two younger sisters and two older half-sisters had a £120,000 inheritance pot to share between them.
Just 19 at the time, a devastated Sasha turned to her older half-sisters Amanda, then 34, and Claire, 30, for help in coping with the loss.
To her horror, she later discovered that the pair had kept the whole life insurance pot for themselves - and they have since blown much of it on drinking and holidays, The Sunday Mirror reports.
Amanda and Claire are Peter's daughters from a previous marriage and lived with him until he left their mother for another woman, Luisa, who he had three more children with - Sasha being the eldest.
After Peter's tragic death on a building site in 2011, Amanda and Claire are said to have rallied around Sasha and her two younger sisters, who were only 15 and 14 at the time.
The three eldest sisters together organised the funeral - but just a year later, Sasha discovered her half-sisters were planning to deprive her of any inheritance.
On Peter's policy with Provident Life Insurance he named all of his daughters, with Amanda and Claire as administrators.
This was confirmed when Provident contacted each of the five girls stating they were entitled to a fifth of the insurance payout, £24,000 per head.
But in February 2012, nearly a year after her father's death, Sasha had not heard any more so she called the insurers and asked when she would be receiving the promised payment.
It was only then that she learned that her older siblings – as administrators of the policy – had been given the full £121,000 a fortnight earlier and neither had bothered telling her.
Sasha desperately tried to to contact them - but when they ignored her calls, her worst fears were confirmed.
She told The Sunday Mirror: 'I thought there had been some mistake. I couldn't understand how we'd all cried together at our dad's funeral and grieved together in the months since – and all that time they must have been secretly plotting to claim the money without telling us.
The half-sisters: Sasha's half-sister Amanda (left) and Claire claimed the £120,000 life insurance money that resulted from their father's death for themselves
Ignored calls: After discovering that the money had been claimed, Sasha tried to contact her two older half-sisters, who she had always had a close relationship with, but neither responded
'They've shattered that bond to be rich. I'm like a real-life Cinderella. One of my friends said it as a joke, but it's true. In the film Cinderella loses her dad and her life takes a turn for the worse.
'If Dad was looking down on us now he'd be so disappointed and sad – it's despicable. In the fairytale, the stepsisters get their come-uppance and Cinderella comes out on top but it looks like I'm a long way from my happy ending.'
Their painter and decorator father Peter died after brakes were mistakenly removed from his scaffolding while he was working, causing it to roll and tip him out.
One of his ribs broke in the fall, piercing his liver, and he died of internal bleeding three hours later.
Tragically, when Sasha and her sisters arrived at the Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, their father had already died.
Sasha remembered that even while they were in the hospital, the subject of money was raised as Amanda wondered aloud about how they could sell their father's car.
On discovering that she was being cheated out of her share of money, Sasha called Greater Manchester Police but was told that it was a civil matter.
She then hired a solicitor who wrote to Amanda and Claire requesting they distribute the money fairly.
Want their inheritance: Sasha (centre) and her younger sisters Annabelle (left) and Jessica (right) were offered £10,000 by their older half-sisters but turned it down, insisting they should be given their fair share
The pair replied claiming they could not 'afford' to give the three sisters a fifth each as they 'only had a small amount of the monies left'.
Claire also apologised to Sasha's solicitor, claiming she and Amanda 'didn't understand the rules and responsibilities to share out the monies equally'.
In their letter, Amanda and Claire said some of the cash had been spent on funeral costs, a vase block for the crematorium and on solicitor's fees.
Sasha says they offered to give her and her siblings £10,000 each but she turned the money down, claiming it was not a fair share.
Claire has insisted they offered them £15,000 each and believes her and Amanda were right to claim more money as they received little from Peter while growing up - with Amanda adding 'they got what was coming to them'.
Sasha says she can longer afford legal fees and recently discovered that her half-sisters have spent a chunk of the money on holidays and gifts.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...re-120-000-inheritance-father-fell-death.html
By Jack Crone for MailOnline23:58 31 May 2015, updated 10:23 01 Jun 2015
- Sasha Cochrane's father Peter died when she was 19 without writing will
- Life insurance policy named her, two younger sisters and older half-sisters
- Despite close bond, half-sisters claimed the inheritance for themselves
- Sasha said: 'If Dad was looking down on us now he'd be so disappointed'
- Eldest half-sister Amanda, 37, said three younger girls 'got what was coming to them'
Real-life Cinderella: Sasha Cochrane says her two older half-sisters tried to cheat her out of her inheritance when her father died in an accident
It may seem like a far-fetched fairytale - but for one young woman, the story of Cinderella has taken on a grim new reality.
When Sasha Cochrane's father Peter died after falling 30ft from scaffolding, no will was written - but a life insurance policy meant that she, her two younger sisters and two older half-sisters had a £120,000 inheritance pot to share between them.
Just 19 at the time, a devastated Sasha turned to her older half-sisters Amanda, then 34, and Claire, 30, for help in coping with the loss.
To her horror, she later discovered that the pair had kept the whole life insurance pot for themselves - and they have since blown much of it on drinking and holidays, The Sunday Mirror reports.
Amanda and Claire are Peter's daughters from a previous marriage and lived with him until he left their mother for another woman, Luisa, who he had three more children with - Sasha being the eldest.
After Peter's tragic death on a building site in 2011, Amanda and Claire are said to have rallied around Sasha and her two younger sisters, who were only 15 and 14 at the time.
The three eldest sisters together organised the funeral - but just a year later, Sasha discovered her half-sisters were planning to deprive her of any inheritance.
On Peter's policy with Provident Life Insurance he named all of his daughters, with Amanda and Claire as administrators.
This was confirmed when Provident contacted each of the five girls stating they were entitled to a fifth of the insurance payout, £24,000 per head.
But in February 2012, nearly a year after her father's death, Sasha had not heard any more so she called the insurers and asked when she would be receiving the promised payment.
It was only then that she learned that her older siblings – as administrators of the policy – had been given the full £121,000 a fortnight earlier and neither had bothered telling her.
Sasha desperately tried to to contact them - but when they ignored her calls, her worst fears were confirmed.
She told The Sunday Mirror: 'I thought there had been some mistake. I couldn't understand how we'd all cried together at our dad's funeral and grieved together in the months since – and all that time they must have been secretly plotting to claim the money without telling us.
The half-sisters: Sasha's half-sister Amanda (left) and Claire claimed the £120,000 life insurance money that resulted from their father's death for themselves
Ignored calls: After discovering that the money had been claimed, Sasha tried to contact her two older half-sisters, who she had always had a close relationship with, but neither responded
'They've shattered that bond to be rich. I'm like a real-life Cinderella. One of my friends said it as a joke, but it's true. In the film Cinderella loses her dad and her life takes a turn for the worse.
'If Dad was looking down on us now he'd be so disappointed and sad – it's despicable. In the fairytale, the stepsisters get their come-uppance and Cinderella comes out on top but it looks like I'm a long way from my happy ending.'
Their painter and decorator father Peter died after brakes were mistakenly removed from his scaffolding while he was working, causing it to roll and tip him out.
One of his ribs broke in the fall, piercing his liver, and he died of internal bleeding three hours later.
Tragically, when Sasha and her sisters arrived at the Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, their father had already died.
Sasha remembered that even while they were in the hospital, the subject of money was raised as Amanda wondered aloud about how they could sell their father's car.
On discovering that she was being cheated out of her share of money, Sasha called Greater Manchester Police but was told that it was a civil matter.
She then hired a solicitor who wrote to Amanda and Claire requesting they distribute the money fairly.
Want their inheritance: Sasha (centre) and her younger sisters Annabelle (left) and Jessica (right) were offered £10,000 by their older half-sisters but turned it down, insisting they should be given their fair share
The pair replied claiming they could not 'afford' to give the three sisters a fifth each as they 'only had a small amount of the monies left'.
Claire also apologised to Sasha's solicitor, claiming she and Amanda 'didn't understand the rules and responsibilities to share out the monies equally'.
In their letter, Amanda and Claire said some of the cash had been spent on funeral costs, a vase block for the crematorium and on solicitor's fees.
Sasha says they offered to give her and her siblings £10,000 each but she turned the money down, claiming it was not a fair share.
Claire has insisted they offered them £15,000 each and believes her and Amanda were right to claim more money as they received little from Peter while growing up - with Amanda adding 'they got what was coming to them'.
Sasha says she can longer afford legal fees and recently discovered that her half-sisters have spent a chunk of the money on holidays and gifts.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...re-120-000-inheritance-father-fell-death.html
