Martin Anthony Ely - born Dec 5, 1953
'Newlands' 4 Clyst Avenue, Brixham, Devon TQ5 0RL
GRIFTERS
Utter Betrayal By My Own Family
Dennis Noel Ely, the father of the above, died on September 2nd 2018 in the United Kingdom. He was a citizen of the United Kingdom. What follows is an unpleasant story of reprehensible greed, deception, manipulation and despicable dishonesty. Martin Ely is the main protagonist but the other two are fully complicit.
Dennis Ely’s last visit to the United States was in the autumn of 2015 at the age of 89. He had already started to lose some of his cognitive abilities and following a fall, was afraid that he would not be able to come back to the United States.
During his last visit, he discussed his will at length. He stated that his estate would be split evenly between Chris Ely (me) and my two brothers, Martin Ely and Barry Ely. He discussed what to do about the our half-sister in Denmark.
Candace Owens on Family
Martin was always a liar and a sneak:
I was lied to by Martin for years. I found out he was executor of my father’s estate when my father died and Martin informed me before the will was opened, that I was not in the will. I asked him how he knew and he told me was with my father when he signed the will at the age of 92. He then lied about the value of the estate saying that it was nowhere near £100,000 in value. It turned out to be £180,000 in the UK alone.
I told Martin he should resign from being the executor as he had a conflict of interest in being a beneficiary and helping my dad craft the will. Of course, he never resigned.
A person of low character and whose negligence led to the death of a woman. [Learn More]
Christine Molin was abandoned by our father at the age of 2, which left her feeling bitter and resentful towards him. She and her mother returned to Denmark when my father left them.
Despite this, she grew up watching her half-siblings thrive in a loving family on the other side of the English Channel, which only deepened her feelings of jealousy and resentment. These emotions stayed with her throughout her life. She is to be pitied rather than blamed for her wretched life.
Barry, Martin and Christine had no relationship with our father apart from maybe a visit every 5 or so years. dad would tell me that he hadn’t heard from them in years and had never once in 25 years been invited to any of their homes. If they visited, they would briefly come to his house or meet in a pub. For the most part, they treated him with condescension and disrespect. Christine treated him with utter contempt.
Dad on Barry,
“Barry only cares about himself. I’m very happy he’s made money because he is not a very nice person. He wouldn’t know if I was dead for more than a year. The only reason he ever calls me at all is because you told him to”
Dad on Christine,
“They all came to visit (Barry and Martin too) and Christine brought a friend who was very nice. Christine would never visit without Barry or Martin. Christine never spoke to me once. Not once. She went outside for a smoke and I went out to ask her why she won’t talk to me. She dropped her cigarette on the ground, ignored me and went back inside.”
Dad on Martin,
“Martin is arrogant and mean. I asked him once if I could visit him at his home and meet my grand sons. He said that I will never be invited and I will never meet my grandsons because he doesn’t want my influence on them.”
Only Martin got in touch during the last 2 years of his life when he was unable to handle his affairs. Martin was appointed his power of attorney and charged him £2500 for helping him with visits to doctors, eye appointments and the like.
My father spent 6 weeks per year with me from 2005 until 2015. I lived in England between 2002 and 2005. None of my siblings contacted him during that period. He and I played tennis and sailed every weekend.
From 1996 to 2002, I lived in Pennsylvania and then Seattle. Dad visited me multiple times and developed a true love of the United States. See: Background for more.
Speaking with Dad in 2017/2018
The will was signed in January 2017, without any mention of me at all, and there were no notes whatsoever as to why I was not in the will. I was advised that if a child is left out of a will, then there should be a document filed as to why they were left out.
I spoke to my father numerous times after he signed his will and before his death. I sent him weekly letters with printed out photos of cats, airplanes, the lakes… anything to remind him of his time on America as he was so miserable at home. He thought I WAS in the will. He had no knowledge that I had been excluded. He was incredibly confused for the last 3 years of his life and easily manipulated. Martin was his only advisor and in that time everything changed. Dad died having no clue that Martin had excluded me from the will.
Supporting my Siblings
Supporting Barry.
I supported Barry all my adult life. I would call him every week. I defended him with my father who thought him selfish and neglectful. I stopped by his workshop on my way home from work almost every night when I lived in London. We would have a drink and then I would head home. When I moved to the United States I kept in tough constantly. In 2013 I spent over a week developing a hugely powerful website for him at ZERO cost. It made him a huge amount of money and put him on the map. I maintained and hosted it free of charge for 7 years. I finally turned off the site when he and Martin started legal proceedings to throw me out of my house.
Supporting Martin,
I visited Martin 3 times when he lived in South Africa. I offered to help him set up a software business as he was flailing in his own business. I offered help when he was accidently the cause of a woman’s death. In 1997, I offered to fly him out to Pennsylvania to teach him web design and web graphics. His wife wouldn’t let him come. He started a car sales business in Devon and I created a website for him for free. I eventually removed it as he was never prepared to do any uploading of cars to the site or maintenance of the site. He expected me to get the cars from adverts he had placed and do it all for him.
Supporting Christine,
We learned that Christine existed sometime after the death of our mother in 1978. After that, I invited Christine to visit all the time. I would travel to London to meet with her when she visited the UK. In 1991 I flew to Copenhagen to spend a week with her. I learned a lot about her early life and saw many photos of her and her mother when she was a toddler. In 1999 she emailed me:
‘Glad to hear that you are doing well. Pls. tell me more about your life in the US.
Yes, I have moved, not far, only 4 km from where I lived before – you know the place, very close to the station where we caught the train to Copenhagen – remember? You drove our car down there.
So I am still North of Copenhagen When will you be in the UK again? We should coordinate that we could meet up in the UK, or you fly via Copenhagen.
Love
Even though Christine Molin disliked our father intensely, I told him in no uncertain terms that she should be included in his will as he had effectively abandoned her when she was 2 years old, leaving her mother when he met our mother. Even though they had no relationship, I said that she deserved to be in the will.
During his last visit in 2015 I asked my father to get a will prepared in the United States to account for his properties. He agreed to do that but unfortunately, he had a nasty fall where he hit his head on a concrete pavement. I took him to the ER where he spent most of the day. I called my brother Barry from the ER to advise him of the situation. My father was released that day but due to the accident he did not prepare his US will.
My father had travel insurance for his visit and I got a claim form which I sent to Barry and Martin. Neither were prepared to spend any time completing it and getting dad to sign it. The hospital bill went to collections and never got paid.
During 2016, I spoke to my father many times and he expressed his desire to return to the United States to tie up his affairs. As he was somewhat infirm, I said that I would be happy for him to visit and would collect him from the airport, but my brother Martin would have to take him to the airport in the UK. Martin refused and the reasons for the refusal will become obvious.
Despite having no relationship with my father, Martin began helping my father to hospital appointments etc. In that time, Martin also became his ‘advisor’ (some might say worm tongue) regarding financial matters as my father was no longer capable of managing his finances himself. My father appointed Martin his power of attorney in the UK.
Martin was also appointed sole executor of my father’s will (as well as a beneficiary) and escorted him to a UK law practice to write his will. This was in January of 2017.
Skype Transcript with Barry
October 16, 2019 – Questions I sent to Barry
Why is Martin doing this? Probate has gone through and the property in Phoenix is irrelevant to taxes.
I had already got a got a mortgage on this property before dad lent me the money. All this talk about getting the increase in value to the property is just greed. That’s why dad signed a contract and Martin accepted payments on that contract. You can’t sign a contract, take payments and then pretend that contract doesn’t exist.
I had talked to you and Martin before and after dad signed his will. You both know that dad intended for me to be in the will and it was certainly a surprise to you that I wasn’t. Martin was very devious in the whole time since dad signed his will. He took money for helping dad but screwed everything up in not getting anything done regarding American properties.
If you think it’s going to be expensive trying to get title to the Fort Smith properties, imagine trying to get $90,000 from the value of mine when I have a signed contract by dad and his executor.
Martin isn’t representing you or Christine. He not representing dad either. He can only be doing this for the money.
Martin has mishandled everything from the start. We are in this mess entirely because of Martin. He coerced dad and was sneaky about it. He had power of attorney in UK and was paid by dad to sort out his affairs, He failed. He refused to come out here to resolve issues here. I spent thousands. I flew to Fort Smith paid all the bills and sent you, Martin and dad pictures and videos. You both agreed to come out here to get the properties ready and I offered to pay for everything. This didn’t happen. You had good reason, Martin did not. Martin needs to be held accountable.
I have done more than anyone by a long way for dad. Being taken out of the will is suspicious beyond belief. I won’t accept it and going to court will burn through all of the estate.
Find out how much Martin has charged the estate for his time on being executor. This will be in addition to the £2500 he charged for helping dad when he was sick. Martin can let this go on for here and kept charging as executor. He’s like a lawyer now. He gets paid while everyone loses.
Sent to Barry Dec 19, 2019 – The reason I didn’t contest will in UK
Dear Ms Ely
Thank you for your email. I note the position. You are absolutely right about the costs I am afraid and, if the case is that he had no earlier will then yes the estate up to £250K would pass to his spouse under the intestacy rules and so if the estate is valued below that, there would be no financial merit in you pursuing it.
Kind regards
Laura Abbott
Associate
Contentious Probate Team
Note: They would have all lost their inheritance and I didn’t want that to happen.
Sent to Barry Feb 29, 2020
Dad died 18 months ago and all I have had from you since then is that nobody wants to screw me except dad. Martin never did anything to influence dad, blah blah. Despite me being the only one dad spent real time with, it was dad that wanted me out of his will and you 3 should get everything. Now you want me to pay the balance of the loan to you Martin and Christine so you can make even more money from dad’s estate while I get nothing and continue to get screwed by you all.
You’ve told me what dad must have been thinking in why he wanted to screw me out of any inheritance when you have no idea at all. You keep saying “well, I’ll talk to Martin” and you don’t achieve a thing. I decided against suing the estate so that it wouldn’t screw you, Martin and Christine out of your inheritance and yet I still feel like you’re all screwing me.
We spoke 2 weeks ago, and you said you’d talk to Martin (about you wanting me to send $40,000 before you’d consider assigning the title of my house to me) and of course nothing… The only time I hear from you is when you need something on your website. What incentive do I have to help you when you do F all for me?
Barry 7:10 AM
I still need to speak further with him to try and resolve all this but he is not at all happy about being accused of influencing Dad
7:12 AM
I don’t care
I want my house title and the rest of you can have all the rest. I have done nothing but try and help and get screwed in return. Martin’s feelings are hurt despite him wasting tens of thousands in his Fort Smith fuck up… He needs to grow up
Barry, 7:21 AM
You seem to think that I am complicit in trying to screw you. I am trying to sort things with Martin but he is very stubborn and angry
7:21 AM
Oh poor Martin. Just think how I feel
Barry, 7:22 AM
The only thing I feel Martin is not guilty of is influencing Dad
7:26 AM
I don’t care anymore. The money is tainted. The will is tainted. It’s all about how much you three get. I don’t want any of that money. I don’t want any of the money from Fort Smith. Martin already screwed that up. Martin feelings or motivation mean nothing to me. All I want is my house and I’m not enriching any of you any more than you will be from dad’s estate.
Barry, 7:29 AM
I have told Martin not to pursue you for the remainder of the loan but he said as executor he has to follow the law. I said he is wasting his time
7:30 AM
That’s bullshit. There is no law. You are the beneficiaries. And the will has no jurisdiction in the states. Martin is full of shit
Barry, 7:32 AM
Now you see why I did not call you after speaking with “Martin the executor”
7:33 AM
Martin is being bloody minded. You 3 can decide whatever you want. Probate has gone through so it’s up to the beneficiaries
Barry, 7:34 AM
I am going to speak with Christine before Martin does
7:35 AM
Fine. Tell her I want nothing except my house title. Martin is an emotional child that has no business deciding for you all. It’s all spite and payback with Martin
There’s £180,000 between the 3 of you in the UK and there’s probably $110,000 between the 3 of you in the Fort Smith properties. That should net you all around £90,000 each. That should be enough
Barry, 8:07 AM
The total UK assets are 148k out of that there are huge legal fees.
8:08 AM
They are £179,669. I downloaded the probate document
Has Martin already wasted another £30,000?
Why are there huge legal fees?
There is no death or inheritance tax
Barry, 8:16 AM
Lawyers in USA and UK
8:17 AM
£30,000? for lawyers? The UK was minimal because it was just probate. It would have been huge if I’d contested but I didn’t. And the legal fees for US is 100% Martin’s responsibility. He should pay that himself.
Note: Barry said, ‘You seem to think that I am complicit in trying to screw you. ‘ indicating that he was fully aware Martin was trying to screw me.