The administration of deceased hotel mogul Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart will and estate is a convoluted mess which has led to acrimony and vicious fighting among family members.

Almost four years later, no clear decision can be arrived at concerning who gets what and who runs the businesses.

There are executors who claim Adam Stewart “ assumed” the chairmanship of the ATL Group and according to legal documents, some executors are questioning the management of the ATL Group. The Sandals hotels are held and managed in a separate trust with Adam Stewart serving as head of that operation. Since taking over the hotels operations Adam has added more resorts to the chain.

Last week, Our Today unearthed that Adam Stewart categorically does not believe Trevor Patterson is fit to administer the will and trusts and should be removed from doing so. In an affidavit filed by Adam Stewart, Adam says Patterson changed Butch Stewart’s wishes after his death. Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart died on the 4th of January, 2021.

Adam Stewart has accused Trevor Patterson of altering deed documents and two international forensic experts have provided evidence that the documents in question were altered by a “ Trevor Patterson”. Our Today reported on Adam Stewart’s accusation and the findings of the forensic experts. As a media house, we report the news and provide analysis. In this instance, we meticulously reported what was in the affidavit. What is in affidavit are serious allegations that have to be fulsomely answered. Our Today is not an agent of any party here and conducts journalism without fear or favour.

The controversy surrounding Butch Stewart’s estate is of national-indeed international interest. Our Today is compelled to report on one of the leading businesses in Jamaica and on a deceased national icon whose estate to date is not reconciled. We have not and would not demonise any of the parties in this protracted drama. All we ask is whether what Adam Stewart and the forensic experts are saying is true. Is there veracity here?

It would be interesting to ascertain what the General Legal Council makes of this and does a precedent exist for changing a deed of amendment in this way. Trevor Patterson now says “The forensic examination revealed nothing that was not known before and was only designed to discredit me.”

What can now be deduced is that the document was changed subsequently to add other beneficiaries to a trust. What are the ramifications of this late change? Trevor Patterson as executor and an attorney in this matter stridently declares he is only carrying out Butch Stewart’s intentions.

The question is were all of Butch Stewart’s instructions and wishes recorded including changes? Patterson says Adam Stewart wants to discredit him. On this he writes,  “I am one of the co-Executors of the Estate and Adam has launched a persistent campaign against me to discredit me in an effort to overturn Mr. Stewart’s wishes.”

What did Butch Stewart intend for his son? Did he intend for him to lead and manage the group of companies he founded? This writer was told by the former Chairman that Adam Stewart would succeed him and Adam Stewart served time from his mid-twenties as CEO in preparation to succeed his father. Executives and staff in the group of companies also held to this belief. It is clear that battle lines are drawn and there is bad blood between Patterson and beneficiaries Adam Stewart, Brian Jardim and Jamie Stewart-Mc-Connell.

Now this here is instructive: “In the course of drawing up his will, Mr Stewart warned me that “ Adam will come after you” and asked me to add my name to a list of pecuniary beneficiaries to whom he was bequeathing cash legacies. In my case US$10 million. I refused, explaining that if my name were on the list, I would not be able to defend his will and wishes. “He also asked me to become Non-Executive Chairman of the Sandals and Beaches Group for an interim period of three years after his death. I declined.

“From the very day when I read his Will and wishes to the family, some family beneficiaries namely Adam, Jaime and Brian were visibly upset.”

Reading Trevor Patterson’s statement it is clear that the 2019 drafted amendment to add the other intended beneficiaries was done so after Butch’s death.

Patterson himself says, “I did not go further to say that it was further amended by me to add the other family beneficiaries. That was a detail previously discussed with the Guernsey Trustee, namely that other family beneficiaries would be added. “Is Patterson therefore saying the metadata examined by the international forensic experts is wrong?

There are so many questions with this Butch Stewart estate situation but few answers. Perhaps it would be better if independent people be brought in who are not connected parties to sort out this almighty mess.

There should be no hint that those with vested interests could distort impartiality. A King Solomon is needed. Patterson and other executors want a “red flag audit of Gorstew Limited and the ATL Group. They say they have serious concerns about how the companies are managed since Butch Stewart passed on.

Does Trevor Patterson and other executors have faith in Adam’s abilities to lead and manage the companies his father founded? They say Adam  “assumed” the title of Executive Chairman of Gorstew  Limited without the necessary authorisation and moved quickly to put in place a new board of directors.

It doesn’t appear that Patterson and some executors are happy with Adam’s stewardship of one of the largest private companies in Jamaica. This is a battle and non-partisan clear heads are needed to resolve this matter.

The vitriol and vituperative attacks here are clear for all to see. How long will this go on?

Who knows. 

Below is the full statement of Trevor Patterson circulated on December 4, 2021

“STATEMENT BY TREVOR PATTERSON ON BUTCH STEWART’S ESTATE

“It has been brought to my attention that an article circulating on an Instagram account has made certain allegations against me claiming fraud and forgery in relation to Gordon “Butch” Stewart’s wishes in respect of a certain trust established in Guernsey.“The article quoted generously from a lawsuit which, though filed, is yet to be served on me. I was given no opportunity by the writer of the article to comment or respond. Ordinarily, I would not discuss the affairs of a client in the public domain but on this occasion, I am compelled to do so in defence of my professional integrity in light of these serious and false accusations regarding my conduct. The following are the pertinent facts.

“I was Butch Stewart’s personal attorney for nearly 20 years. I worked on his final Estate Plan, on and o , for a period of three (3) years. During that time, I repeatedly asked him to meet with his family and outline his plan to them. He consistently refused and I came to realize that it was because he felt it would cause disaffection among certain family members.“In the course of drawing up his Will, Mr. Stewart warned me that, “Adam will come after you” and asked me to add my name to a list of pecuniary beneficiaries to whom he was bequeathing cash legacies. In my case, US$10 million. I refused, explaining that if my name were on the list I would not be able to defend his Will and wishes. He also asked me to become the Non-Executive Chairman of the Sandals and Beaches Group for an interim period of three (3) years after his death. I declined.

“From the very day when I read his Will and wishes to the family some family beneficiaries, namely Adam, Jaime and Brian were visibly upset. I am one of the co-Executors of the Estate and Adam has launched a persistent campaign against me to discredit me in an effort to overturn Mr. Stewart’s wishes. It started with an Affidavit filed by Adam in The Bahamas in April 2022 in which he stated that I changed the wishes after Mr. Stewart’s death. That is completely false. This most recent allegation relates to a trust established in Guernsey in 2005 which named Adam and Jaime Stewart as the original beneficiaries. Mr. Stewart wanted the assets in the Guernsey trust to be lumped together with assets in two (2) Bahamian trusts, one holding the Sandals & Beaches hotel chain, to be treated as one and distributed to his family in specified percentages. This was confirmed in inter alia (i) a 2018 Will; (ii) his last Will signed in 2020; (iii) a final Letter of Wishes signed January 3, 2020 (which simply reiterated what was previously said); and (iv) various Memoranda of instructions sent to two (2) US law firms and a Bahamian law firm which assisted in providing US tax advice and document review in relation to the plan. The documents to implement the plan were drafted before Mr. Stewart died.

“In 2019 I had received from a resident of The Bahamas (who was a director of Mr. Stewart’s private Bahamian trust company), a draft unsigned amendment to the Guernsey trust. I assumed that the document was drafted by the Bahamian lawyers who usually act in trust matters for Mr. Stewart. It concerned the addition of Mr. Stewart as beneficiary to the Guernsey trust. Mr Stewart rejected the document and said he had an alternative plan which turned out to be a sale of all of Sandals & Beaches assets and the assets in the Guernsey trust and division of the sale proceeds among the family beneficiaries in the stated percentages. Mr. Stewart died on January 4, 2021 and I commenced a review of all the trust documents. In relation to the Guernsey trust I reviewed the 2019 draft amendment and, in anticipation of the fact that the other family beneficiaries would need to be added to that trust in accordance with Mr. Stewart’s wish I, or it could have been my assistant on my instructions, added the names of the other family beneficiaries.

“In June 2021 I, along with the Bahamian director mentioned above of the Bahamian trust company, had a conference call with the Guernsey trustee in which I explained that it was Mr. Stewart’s wish that other family beneficiaries be added to that trust. The call concluded with the Guernsey trustee agreeing to follow whatever was done by the main trust in The Bahamas. Not long after, the main trustee in The Bahamas added a Family Beneficiary in accordance with Mr. Stewart’s wishes and I assumed that the Guernsey trustee would follow that lead.“In September 2021 the Guernsey trust was raised at an Executors’ meeting and I was directed by the Executors to forward the draft unsigned document to the Guernsey trustee. At the direction of the Executors, I emailed the unsigned draft amending document to the Guernsey trustee with a covering letter referring to our telephone conversation and copying the other Executors. Although the original document had come to me from The Bahamas, it was not known to me (and I was never corrected) that the document was originally sent to The Bahamas by the Guernsey trustee itself. So, the Guernsey trustee knew the document and would have seen that the only amendment was the addition of the other family beneficiaries who were to be added to the trust. In my covering letter to the Guernsey trustee I said that the document was drafted by Bahamian counsel – which I truly believed to have been the case. I did not go further to say that it was further amended by me to add the other family beneficiaries. That was a detail previously discussed with the Guernsey trustee; namely, that other family beneficiaries would be added.

“In the said covering letter, authorising the Guernsey trustee to formulate and implement the plan for the addition of the other family beneficiaries, I expressly asked for the trustee’s recommendation as to how this could be done and what additional document the trustee would need from me to comply with Guernsey law and practice. I expected the Guernsey trustee to do what was necessary under Guernsey law and practice to implement the addition of the other family beneficiaries to that trust. I even volunteered to go to Miami to meet with the Protector of the Guernsey trust to discuss the details and how implementation would take place.”To my amazement, the next development was a claim of fraud said to have been “discovered” by forensic examination of the document. I reject this claim entirely. At all times I have acted consistently with Mr. Stewart’s wishes. I have not distorted or departed from those wishes and have nothing to gain by doing so. The forensic examination revealed nothing that was not known before and was only designed to discredit me. The draft unsigned document:

• (a) said and did nothing that was not in keeping with the well-documented wishes of Mr. Stewart;
• (b) confirmed what had been previously discussed with the Guernsey trustee;
• (c) was sent on the direction of the Executors; and
• (d) followed what had already been done under the main Bahamian trust in reliance on the same documents.

“The real problem with the document, to which Adam and Jaime object, is that it sought to add other family beneficiaries to a trust which they want to claim as their own. For nearly four (4) years, I have steadfastly sought to implement the Will and wishes of Mr. Stewart and, for that reason, I have become the villain that must be destroyed. This latest incident is one of many which I have had to endure and about which Mr. Stewart had given me fair warning.

“Dated: December 3, 2024“Contact: 876-920-4000“