A British judge has ruled that five granddaughters will receive only 50 Pounds (Rs 5,261) each from their grandfather's 500,000 Pounds (Rs 5,26,13376) estate. The decision comes after the grandfather, a retired soldier named Frederick Ward Snr, reportedly felt hurt by his grandchildren's lack of visits during his hospital stays for a lung condition, according to The Metro.
According to court documents, Mr Ward left the bulk of his estate to his two children, Terry Ward and Susan Wiltshire. The remaining grandchildren, children of Mr Ward's late son Fred Jnr, received only 50 Pounds each in envelopes, sparking a family dispute.
After finding out they were mostly cut out of their grandfather Frederick Ward Snr's will, his five granddaughters - Carol Gowing, Angela St Marseille, Amanda Higginbotham, Christine Ward, and Janet Pett - took legal action. They argued that they should receive a third of their late grandfather's money arguing that their uncle and aunt, Mr Ward's other children, had unduly influenced him to change the will in their favor. However, the judge ruled in favor of the will, upholding Mr Ward's right to distribute his estate as he saw fit.
According to The Metro, High Court judge Master James Brightwell has now ruled the 2018 will was 'entirely rational, adding that the grandchildren had 'very limited contact' with their 'disappointed' grandfather.
Throwing out their case, Master Brightwell said: "Some may take the view that, as a general proposition, when a testator's child has predeceased him, he generally ought to leave an equal share of his residue to that child's issue."
"However, the decision not to do so and to split the residue and thus the bulk of the estate between his surviving children can hardly be said to be provision which no reasonable testator could make."
