58-year-old Peter Ivory from Hendon arranged the sale of his brother Mick’s house in Wallington after he died, and gave his estate to the homeless.
Mick died without leaving a will, and Peter claimed he was following Mick’s wishes by keeping it from the rest of the family.
Judge Timothy Bowles said “you may think you took a moral position, but what you have actually done is deprive other people of money that is actually theirs”.