• March 29, 2024
 Instagram Catalyst For Inheritance Feud

Instagram Catalyst For Inheritance Feud

Social media’s talons increased their influential grip on the world this week as a fashion owner’s Instagram posts have fuelled an inheritance feud between her father, Oliver, and aunt, Deidre, over the sale of the £5 million Grade-1 listed farmhouse.

Jade Holland-Cooper, fashion designer and owner of luxury tweed brand, Holland Cooper, frequently promotes her business by uploading photos to the social media site in order to highlight her products.

However, her posts also emphasise Jade’s incredibly lavish lifestyle following her marriage to ex Superdry owner and multi-millionaire, Julian Dunkerton.

During one of the many photographs, in which Jade underlines her opulent home and business life, her aunt was offended by the perception of wealth in the photos that she claims was attributed to the unfair distribution of her late father’s estate.

Deidre Goddard, 72, and her sister Brigid Fairman, 66, were left heartbroken following the unfair, archaic and unequal distribution of their father’s inheritance. The sisters were set to receive an insurance policy worth £50,000 each, whilst eldest son Oliver and youngest sibling, John, would scoop policies worth £100,000 each.

Additionally, the family home, worth over £5 million, was left to the eldest son and estate executor, Oliver. The two sisters were annoyed by their father’s perception of women, deeming them as a ‘Victorian notion,’ that her brothers should not adopt.

Following Jade’s appearance in the Sunday Times, disgruntled Deidre commented: “Some of us know the truth about you, your family and money. Please don’t take us all for fools.”

Jade’s father, Oliver, demanded an apology and retraction of the comments made by his sisters. Oliver was willing to offer his sisters an equal monetary share with all four siblings receiving £100,000 each if the apology was made on social media and sent to Jade’s family home.

Deidre rejected this offer as it was seen as a bribe rather than an omission of inequality made in the first place.

Whilst the family feud is far from resolved, it has highlighted old fashioned sexist ideas as a basis for contesting a Will in the modern world. Additionally, it places a spotlight on the influence of social media.

Have you seen a lot of contentious probate cases based on archaic and outdated values?

Martin Parrin