The inheritance has become a conflictive issue in families. Among the most frequent problems among heirs, the division of assets, the taking possession of assets, the existence of agreements prior to the inheritance itself, taxes to pay or issues related to the will itself stand out, according to an OCU report carried out in 2020.

In Spain it is not possible to distribute the inheritance unequally among children. This is not the case in the United Kingdom and Frederick Ward Snr, a grandfather disappointed by the few visits his granddaughters paid him. After his son died in 2015, his relationship with his first-born children cooled. The lawyers assure that the old man expressed his disappointment at the lack of presence of his granddaughters, especially when he had to be hospitalized up to three times for a lung condition.

This distancing caused Ward to practically exclude the granddaughters from the will. Thus he bequeathed most of his fortune, valued at approximately £500,000, to two of his grandsons, leaving barely £50 to each of his five granddaughters.

Attempt to challenge the will

A decision that they did not accept and decided to challenge the validity of the will in 2018 before the British Justice, arguing that they deserved a significant part of their grandfather’s inheritance.

A attempt that was rejected by Master Judge James Brightwell who stated that the will reflected an “entirely rational” decision given the “very limited” relationship between the granddaughters and the grandfather.

The ruling highlights the power of people to distribute their assets as they consideremphasizing the importance of personal relationships for decision making.