Probate disputes: Siblings win inheritance battle against their father’s ‘secret’ children

An inheritance dispute which highlights not only the complex nature of modern families but the problems that arise when someone dies without a Will has just been heard at London’s County Court.

This complicated case pitted three children born within their parents’ marriage against two born outside it during their father’s long and secret relationship with another woman.

Each of the five biological child, under the laws of intestacy (when someone has died without a Will), initially inherited an equal amount from their shared father’s £461,000 estate.

However, two of the children born within the marriage contested this division under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 with the judge agreeing they should have £170,000 awarded back to them based on their financial needs.

As a result, their sister and two half siblings received significantly less.

What happened in this inheritance dispute between two sets of children?

Michael Gymer, 83, died in 2020 just months after his 81-year-old wife, Julie. Neither of them made a Will with Mrs Gymer believing that even if she died first, her estate would pass to her husband and then equally to their three children under intestacy rules.

However, shortly before Mr Gymer’s death, the couple’s three adult children – Shelley, 62, Gregory, 64, and Lee, 54 – discovered their father had been in a long relationship with another woman and had two ‘secret’ children, Charlotte, 32, and Joseph, 29.

As neither Mr or Mrs Gymer had made a Will, the intestacy laws dictated that all five children should receive an equal £92,350 share of the estate.

Gregory and Lee contested this division. They claimed:

• Their mother’s portion of the estate, which she’d built up throughout her hard working life, was effectively being shared with her husband’s ‘secret’ children which, they said, she would not have wanted.
• Their mother’s assets had passed to their father only because of the intestacy process which made sharing the combined pot out equally between all five children extremely unfair.

Although Charlotte and Joseph argued that Mrs Gymer knew about them and didn’t mind them inheriting, this argument was rejected by the court.

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, the judge – who called all five children ‘innocent victims’ of their father’s actions – awarded £170,000 back to Mrs Gymer’s estate to be divided between Lee and Gregory.

No award was made to Shelley as the judge found she had no financial need. She, along with Charlotte and Joseph, shared equally their father’s portion of the family wealth believed to be in the region of £58,000 each.

How exactly do intestacy laws work?

If you don’t make a Will, intestacy rules dictate the order in which those close to you can inherit without regard for your own plans and wishes.

• Spouses and civil partners with children inherit all the deceased’s personal property, the first £322,000 of the estate and half the remaining estate – the other half goes to their children.
• If there are no children, the partner inherits the entire estate.
• Children come next in line after married couples and civil partners and if both parents are dead.
• Unmarried partners and close friends cannot inherit.

What does this inheritance battle tell us?

This dispute highlights the problems that can be created for those left behind and forced to rely on intestacy rules when someone dies without a Will in place.

Having an up-to-date and correctly drawn Will is crucial when it comes to carrying out your wishes when you die.  It can include everything from how you want your funeral arranged to making sure your favourite charity is remembered and, crucially, helps avoid difficulties and confusion for your relatives and friends.

It means you won’t leave your loved ones worrying about what you wanted, particularly at a time when they are grieving your loss and minimises the chance of a probate dispute later.

• Please contact our highly experienced award winning Wills and Mental Capacity Team for more information

Get in touch

If you want to contest or defend an Inheritance Act claim, please contact Wards Solicitors’ Contentious Trusts and Probate Team.

Our lawyers are members of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS), the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), The Association of Lifetime Lawyers (previously Solicitors for the Elderly) and the Law Society’s Probate Panel. All demand an elevated level of expertise and up to date knowledge from their members.

Wards Solicitors has recently been named Regional Law Firm of the Year by Bristol Law Society and our Wills, Probate and Mental Capacity team has scooped the Devon and Somerset Law Society’s Private Client Team of the Year.

We are also praised by the Legal 500 Guide 2025 for our extensive probate disputes presence across the South West advising on contentious estate administration matters, Court of Protection issues and challenges to the validity of Wills with a large roster of clients.