Why dad cut son out of $177m estate. Picture: YouTube/Redditch Standard; Ragley Estate
An English lord has blocked his eldest son from taking over the family’s £85 million ($A177 million) estate because of his “lack of achievement”.
The Earl of Yarmouth, William Seymour, was left out of the fortune after a fallout, The Sun reports.
According to the BBC, the 31-year-old took his parents and three siblings to court over the estate, which included the 400-year-old family seat Ragley Hall, in Warwickshire.
Lord Yarmouth asked for the two trust corporations to be removed as trustees and replaced with an independent one.
Lord and Lady Hertford, along with Lord Yarmouth’s siblings – Lady Gabriella Seymour, Lord Edward Seymour and Lady Antonia Seymour opposed the legal claim.
The three settlements which consist of the estate, including farmland, residential properties and woodland, are valued at around £45 million ($A93 million).
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William Seymour claimed his family didn’t approve of his wife Kelsey. Picture: YouTube/Redditch Standard
The Seymour family seat at Ragley Estate includes a 110-room mansion. Picture: Ragley Estate
The court heard that while William held a “very earnest belief” that the trustees failed in their duties in the way Ragley was run, it was unfounded.
In his ruling, Judge James Brightwell said he accepted the “damaged and fractured” relationship between Lord Yarmouth and his parents and siblings was “poor”.
The judge added the bad relationship between William and his parents wasn’t enough to remove the trustees.
Ragley estate, which is 6,500-acres, includes a 110-room mansion, farms, a sprawling woods, and hundreds of acres of parkland.
It has been in the Seymour Family for about 400 years, and has connections to Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife.
Lord Hertford said he was disappointed in his son’s “lack of achievement”. Picture: Instagram/ragleyestate
The Earl of Yarmouth has been embroiled in the public spat with his family since 2018.
The aristocrat complained that his parents had led him to believe he would take over the running of the estate when he turned 30.
William also claimed his parents weren’t happy he wanted to marry former Goldman Sachs banker Lady Yarmouth, Kelsey Wells.
The court previously heard that William, who was worth £4 million at 21, had not been interested in the estate until he met his wife Kelsey.
After their marriage, William began complaining about how the estate was being run and argued his wife was being shown “disrespect” for not being invited to the trustee meeting.
His father, Lord Hertford, told the court he had planned for his son to take over the estate but changed his mind – believing he was no longer “appropriate” for the job.
He said William and Kelsey marrying was not the “main reason” for the decision, but rather his son’s “lack of achievement”.
In evidence, he said: “I am proud of the fact that he went to college but made a mistake at university and didn’t graduate.
“William has not followed a profession or obtained qualifications or experience to take over the running of Ragley Hall.”
The aristocrat complained that his parents had led him to believe he would take over the running of the estate when he turned 30. Picture: Instagram/bizsuccessmaguk
The judge ruled that Lord and Lady Hertford had obviously shown “deep antagonism” towards their daughter-in-law.
However, the judge said that the son’s dispute as to the way Ragley is run was not well-founded.
“The fact that the claimant has a very earnest belief that the trustees have failed in their duties or should have acted differently, in an unspecified way, is no sufficient basis for a finding that they have so failed in their duties,” the judge added.
Parts of this story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.
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