Brothers win £460k will fight with their dad's secret family

TWO brothers have won a £460,000 inheritance fight against their father's secret children after discovering he led a double life for decades.

- Nev Ayling

Michael Gymer died in December 2020 aged 83 - six months after his wife Julie, 81. They had three children: Shelley, 62, Gregory, 64, and Lee, 54.

But soon after Julie's death, a cousin told the trio their dad, a former market porter, had kept a lover and two children - Joseph, 29, and Charlotte, 32 on the sly since the 1990s. The half-siblings met for the first time at Michael's funeral, when Joseph helped carry the coffin.

Because neither Michael or Julie made a will, their £461,752 estate, including her input, was split equally among his five children under intestacy laws, with each standing to gain around £92,350.