Sisters left £50 from granddad’s fortune insist he would have wanted to leave more
Five granddaughters given £50 each in their granddad’s will are ‘puzzled’ by a decision to hand them £220,000 in legal costs.
Frederick Ward Senior, who died in 2020, gave the amount from his £500,000 fortune because he was ‘disappointed’ at their ‘very limited’ contact.
The five granddaughters – Carol Gowing, Angela St Marseille, Amanda Higginbotham, Christine Ward and Janet Pett – lost a High Court battle challenging the amount.
Judge James Brightwell said his ruling was ‘entirely rational’ and handed them a £220,000 bill to cover their aunt and uncle’s costs of defending the claim against them.
Fred Ward Junior died before Ward Senior in 2015 and so he decided to split his estate between his two children – Terry Ward and Susan Wiltshire.
The granddaughters accused their Uncle Terry and Aunt Susan of having ‘unduly influenced’ Ward Senior of changing his will.
But the High Court found there was no evidence of this.
A family source told MailOnline: ‘The sisters and their mother feel this judgement is riddled with mistakes.
‘They do not agree with the judge and they are puzzled and frustrated as to how he reached his decision. They do not understand why they should meet all the legal costs.
‘Unfortunately, they just can’t afford to challenge his ruling on appeal.
‘Their solicitor and barristers are also at a loss to explain the logic of his judgement.
‘There are so many discrepancies. For example, the judge stated that their grandfather did not have dementia. Yet he was diagnosed with dementia in 2014 and then had a second diagnosis two years later.
‘The sisters’ position has always been that Fred Ward Senior was entitled to leave his money to whoever he wished, despite promises he made verbally.
‘The question is, did his will really reflect what he wanted?’
Lawyers for the five granddaughter’s argued they should not pay the full costs and accused Uncle Terry of ‘provocative’ behaviour.
They have asked for some of the bills to come out of Ward Senior’s estate.
But they have been ordered to pay £100,000 towards a total defence legal bill, estimated to be £136,470 with VAT added on.
They also have their own legal costs that total £86,000.
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