A British judge has ruled that each of the five grandchildren will only receive £50 from their grandfather's £500,000 inheritance.
The decision was taken because the grandfather, Frederick Ward Sr., a former soldier, was reportedly insulted by his grandchildren's lack of visits while he was receiving treatment for a lung disease in the hospital, according to The Metro.
According to court documents, the majority of Terry Ward's income went to his two children, Susan Wiltshire and Terry Ward. The fact that the surviving grandkids, the children of Ward's late son Fred Jr., received only £50 in envelopes caused a family dispute.
Carol Gowing, Angela St. Marseille, Amanda Higginbotham, Christine Ward, and Janet Pett—the five grandchildren of Frederick Ward Sr.—filed a lawsuit after discovering they had been mostly left out of his will. They asserted that they should receive a third of Ward's fortune since their uncle and aunt, who were his other children, had illegally convinced him to change the will in their favor. But by upholding the will, the judge did support Ward's right to divide his wealth as he saw fit.
Judge Master James Brightwell of the High Court declared the 2018 will to be "entirely rational," adding that the grandchildren had "very limited contact" with their "disappointed" grandfather. The Metro published this information.
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."