Bernard Matthews and The War Over His Turkey Fortune

Bernard Matthews earned 40 million pounds through his turkey empire, and now that he has passed, the division of his estate is a hot topic.  A glance into his complex family situation is as follows: He first married Joyce and had three children with her–Kathleen, Jason and Victoria.  He later had a relationship with Dutch aristocrat who gave birth to his son George.  After the aristocrat, he started a long-term relationship with Odile Marteyn.  He never divorced Joyce and Marteyn was his mistress until his death.  

Under French law, his St. Tropez property should be split with most of it belonging to his adopted children. Matthews tried to get around this by explaining in a letter that he wanted the villa to go to Marteyn.  

The majority of Matthews’s estate went to his son George, so he did not object to turning the villa over to Marteyn. The other three children were not so easy to follow his requests so they went to court asking for their share of the villa along with the inheritance tax due on the French property that his English estates should pay.  The judge ruled that Marteyn cannot hold onto their share of the villa, but he denied the children’s claim to the inheritance tax that should be paid from his other properties outside of France. 

AOL points out a couple of lessons to learn from this complicated family situation.  The law does not always take account of what you want.  If you die without a will in the United States, the laws of intestacy control, and those laws may not be in line with what you would have wanted.  Additionally, despite your faith in family and friends, they might end up warring over your assets after your death. Writing a will can override these inter-familial arguments and ensure that your wishes are carried out. 

See Sarah Coles, Bernard Matthews’ Mistress in Row Over WIll, AOL, Sept. 6, 2012. 

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.