The daughter of a late lawyer who once defended Princess Diana's mum is locked in a legal battle over his Scottish £500k home.
Ruben Murdanaigum's daughter Laura, who lives in Edinburgh, has asked her father's girlfriend to move out of the idyllic home in the country following the 71-year-old's death last August.
Before passing away, Ruben had divorced his wife and moved his partner Ashma, 32, into his country home. Ruben ran legal firm Rubens Solicitors in Lochgilphead, Argyll.
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Despite efforts by Laura to have Ashma, who works as a legal advisor with Rubens Solicitors, removed from the home, Ashma has raised a civil action against Laura at Dunoon Sheriff Court in a bid to stay.
A source told the Sunday Mail: "Ruben didn't leave a will so his estate goes to his daughter Laura and son Christopher. There is a court case in Dunoon Sheriff Court raised by Ashma, who had been living with Ruben for -several years.
"Ashma wants to stay in the house but Laura, his daughter, maintains Ashma was just her father's cleaner and housekeeper and wants her out. It's very acrimonious. It's an emotional time for everyone."
A family source said: "I can't say how widely known their relationship was in Lochgilphead but he used to take Ashma to the different courts, sometimes staying overnight in a hotel. So they would be seen quite a bit together."
Murdanaigum represented Diana's mother, Frances Shand Kydd, on a drink-driving charge at Oban Sheriff Court in 1996. She was subsequently found guilty of being more than twice the legal limit of alcohol when she got behind the wheel and charged £400.
In 2019, Murdanaigum was found guilty of professional misconduct -following a disciplinary tribunal in -Edinburgh and was fined £2500. The Mauritius-born lawyer was accused of breaching strict accountancy rules and mismanaging clients' accounts.
Last August, he is understood to have collapsed in the street in the town where he lived.
Before setting up in private practice, he served for a time as a fiscal depute in Paisley. The Sunday Mail understands he owned a small estate in Barbados, where he planned to retire.
The case at Dunoon Sheriff Court has been halted to allow his estate to be wound up. A further hearing is set for June.
Ashma, and Murdanaigum's ex-wife Felicity, declined to comment. The Sunday Mail contacted their legal representatives for comment.
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