Two sisters are locked in a bitter dispute with their father over an inheritance from their grandmother, according to a recent story in LadBible.
The sisters from Darlington, Katie and Abbie Rogers say they haven’t been able to grieve properly following their grandmother’s passing because of the battle with their father, who has been ordered by a judge to handed over his mother’s estate to the sisters.
Sylvia Rodgers died in 2017 following a cancer diagnosis. After her husband George died in 2015, she changed the executor of her will to her son, Gary Rodgers, the sisters’ father.
Estate to be split three ways
Gary Rodgers divorced the sisters’ mother when they were children and the sisters have had little to do with him since. Sylvia’s will stated that her estate was to be split three ways, with Katie and Abbie receiving £44,000 each.
At a High Court hearing on 6 December, the judge heard that Gary Rodgers has failed to hand over the estate, the relevant documentation and bank statements as ordered at an earlier court hearing this year.
He has been sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months under the Contempt of Court Act 1981. He has also been ordered to pay the sisters’ legal costs of more than £10,000.
Waited for their inheritance
After their grandmother died, the sisters waited up to a year for their father to give them their share of her estate but took legal advice when this was not forthcoming.
Katie says she and her grandmother were very close and their father had no contact with she and her sister throughout their teenage years. She thinks that her grandmother felt the need to step in because of her son’s neglect of the pair and that she and her sister used to stay with their grandmother every weekend.
She added that she believed her grandmother made her son the executor of her will because she wanted to try to bring Gary together with his daughters, as she knew they would need to speak to each other once more.
‘Absolutely devastated’
Katie said her grandmother would be “absolutely devastated” at the way things have turned out, which Katie found upsetting.
During the court hearing, Gary Rodgers told the court that he suffered from type 2 diabetes and mental health issues, which had prevented him from dealing with his daughter’s inheritance sooner. He has until 7 January 2022 to comply with the original order to hand over the estate, the relevant documentation and bank statements.
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