Somerset Maugham tried to disinherit his daughter in 1962 to adopt his secretary Alan Searle; a 21-month case in British and French courts barred the adoption

Somerset Maugham, in his late 80s, was cared for by his secretary and companion Alan Searle. Around the time of his 1962 memoir Looking Back, which denied that Liza was his daughter, he tried to disinherit her and adopt Searle. On 10 April 1962 Sotheby's in London sold his Impressionist and modern pictures, reported at about 524,000 pounds^†. Selina Hastings's biography says Searle tried to deprive Liza and her children of their inheritance at the sale. Liza and her husband sued. The case ran 21 months in British and French courts. The courts found Maugham was her father, and he was barred from the adoption^†. Wikipedia reports damages of about $1.4 million, including $280,000 for paintings originally willed to her, royalties from some books and a controlling interest in his French villa^†. Another source says the adoption was only partly overturned^†. Maugham died in 1965. Searle received about 50,000 pounds, the villa contents, the manuscripts and 30 years of copyright income^†. The copyrights later passed to the Royal Literary Fund^†.