'Disappointed' grandad leaves grandkids just FIFTY POUNDS each from his £500k fortune because they 'didn't visit enough'

A GRANDFATHER left his grandchildren just £50 each of his £500,000 fortune because he was “hurt” by not visiting him more often.

Frederick Ward Snr died in 2020 at the age of 91 and divided almost all of his money between his two children, Terry Ward and Susan Wiltshire.

Frederick Ward Snr left his grandchildren just £50 each of his £500,000 fortune Credit: Champion News

Fred Snr has split almost all his money between his children Terry Ward (pictured) and Susan WiltshireCredit: Champion News

After learning they were almost disinherited, five grandchildren, including Carol Gowing (pictured) sued Credit: Champion News

But the five grown children of his dead son Fred Jr. they only received £50 each in envelopes which led to a family row.

The ex-soldier told his legal representatives that he was upset because his Fred’s children did not visit him while he was in hospital three times with lung problems.

After learning they were nearly disinherited, the five – sisters Carol Gowing, Angela St Marseille, Amanda Higginbotham, Christine Ward and Janet Pett – sued.

The quintet claimed they should get a third of their late father’s grandfather’s money.

They claimed their uncle Terry and aunt Susan “unduly influenced” their grandfather to change his will to give them a share of his estate to the five sisters.

However, their case was dismissed by High Court judge Master James Brightwell.

He said it was “totally rational” for a “disappointed” grandfather to kick his grandchildren out because of their “very limited contact” with him in his final years.

He said the “evidence does not come close to convincing me” that Terry “coerced” his father or that Susan “controlled” him by casting doubt on his will.

Fred Snr was an “independent and strong-willed” former carpenter and social club regular who lived in South Ealing, London.

He had three children, Fred Jr, Terry and Susan, and had previously made a will dividing his estate, including his £450,000 maisonette, between all three.

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But Fred Jr – the father of five sisters – died before his father in 2015, after which the family fell out and Fred Snr didn’t see much of Fred Jr’s side.

And when Terry read his will after his death, there was an outraged outcry – which was recorded and played in court – when it was revealed that five sisters had been almost cut out.

From a fortune estimated at around £500,000, Terry handed them envelopes with just £50 in cash.

They then sued, claiming that the grandfather’s last will from 2018 was invalid because it was made when he was a “sick man” and “scared” of Terry, who “forced” him to make it.

They also pointed the finger at Susan, Fred Snr’s daughter and carer in his final years, accusing her of being an “undue influence” on their grandfather.

Their lawyer told the judge that Terry developed a particular “hate” towards his niece Carol Gowing after the family fell out over the property.

They said there was a “sensitive … dislike between the two sides of the family”.

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Inheritance tax is a tax on the assets – property, money and assets – of a person who has died.

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“Prosecutors allege the mercenary side of the relationship between the accused and the deceased,” the lawyer said, while the sisters’ witnesses recounted “the deceased who complained that one or both of them asked for money.”

Witnesses also claimed he “told them about Terry’s physically abusive behavior towards the deceased”, who in later life “acted scared” of his son, he told the judge.

Terry and his lawyer Maxwell Myers strongly rejected the “disgusting” allegations, with Terry calling one of the witnesses “an absolute liar” on the witness stand.

Mr Myers also rejected the allegations of undue influence, saying claims that Fred Snr was a weak man “differed from reality” and contradicted the evidence.

“His strength of character is testament to a close friend,” he said, adding that the friend claimed “Fred Snr would never have been afraid of Terry or Sue”.

With Carol Gowing on the witness stand, Mr. Myers told her that “when someone dies, they have the right to leave their property to whoever they want.”

“Yes, provided the will is properly written,” she replied.

“I can’t prove that he was abused, but I think the evidence we have points to that. That’s what family members have told us.”

Giving judgment, Master Brightwell described the 2018 will as “rational” in the circumstances, given that Fred Jr’s children did not see their grandfather often after their father’s death in 2015.

They claimed their uncle Terry and aunt Susan (pictured) were ‘too much of an influence’ on their grandfatherCredit: Champion News

However, their case was dismissed. Pictured is granddaughter Angela St MarseilleCredit: Supplied by Champion News

Ward family tree

Grandfather – Frederick Ward Snr

Children – Terry Ward, Susan Wiltshire and Fred Jr (died 2015)

Grandchildren (Fred Jr.’s five daughters) – Carol Gowing, Angela St Marseille, Amanda Higginbotham, Christine Ward and Janet Pett

They didn’t visit him in hospital because they weren’t informed he was there, because of how often he was admitted and also “because contact between the parties had stopped anyway,” he said.

The five sisters only made “very occasional short visits” to see their grandfather while he was close to his son Terry and Susan was his full-time carer.

“It is most likely that Fred became disillusioned with the applicants, given the changed circumstances following the death of Fred Jr. and the limited contact with the applicants thereafter,” he said.

“I accept Susan’s evidence that her father complained that Fred Jr.’s family didn’t care about him,” adding that he was particularly upset about the lack of contact at the time of one of his great-granddaughters’ weddings.

“He complained that they didn’t even send him a piece of the wedding cake,” he said.

“In the circumstances, and despite Fred’s promise several years ago to divide his estate between his children’s children should anything happen to any of them, the 2018 will was in my view entirely rational.

“That’s not to say that I can’t understand the disappointment of applicants because they’ve essentially been left out.”

“Some might take the view that, as a general proposition, when a testator’s child predeceased him, he should generally leave an equal share of his estate to that child,” he added.

“However, the decision not to do so and to divide the remainder and thus the bulk of the estate among his surviving children can hardly be said to be a provision that no reasonable testator could make.”

Acquitting both Terry and Susan of influencing their father to exclude their grandchildren, he said: “The evidence does not come close to convincing me that it is more likely than not that the 2018 will was procured by or from the defendants’ undue influence.”

The judge also rejected claims that Fred Snr lacked the “capacity” to make the will in 2018 or that it was invalid due to “insufficient knowledge and approval” of its effect.