Alastair Brodie, the 26th Brodie of Brodie, has bequeathed the bulk of his £300,000 estate to a woman he married in secret just months before his death in October last year.
His will, published last week, reveals that his son Alexander, who inherited the clan chief’s title, will get just £5,000.
His other children, Phaedra and Edward-Benedict, will receive £20,000 and £10,000 respectively. A further £90,000 was left to his first wife Mary-Louise on condition that she makes no further claim against his estate.
The remainder of the money was left to his second wife Carole. She is also understood to have been given his £200,000 house in Cambridgeshire. Until the clan chief’s death the rest of the family was unaware that she even existed.
The family — whose motto is “unite” — has been involved in a succession of bitter legal disputes dating back to the 1970s when Ninian Brodie, Alastair’s father, sold Brodie Castle in Forres, Morayshire. The children later sought to regain control of their family seat. The building, which had been home to the family for nearly 800 years, was sold to the National Trust for Scotland.
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The children were unsuccessful but the dispute gave rise to a feud during which Alastair turned his back on his ex-wife and children, rewrote his will and remarried without their knowledge in April last year. He died from lung cancer last October. Since then his estranged family claim that they have been denied access to his will.
Although Alexander, 34, will assume control of the family trust — which comprises some land and property in Forres — the family claim that it was “completely denuded” by Ninian and is so riddled with legal problems that it may be almost worthless.
According to the family, a tenant farmer who has rented the land for nearly 20 years was granted a feudal lease just days before Alastair’s death — reducing the value of the estate and giving him the right to buy the property if it is put up for sale.
Last night Mary-Louise Brodie, who was passed a copy of the will by The Sunday Times, said she was horrified.
“It’s dreadful as far as the children are concerned. Meanwhile, Carole gets £180,000. She already has a house. The money for Alastair’s house came out of the trust which belongs to the children. He should never have been allowed to buy the house in the first place but his father, who was a trustee, gave him permission.”
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Commenting on the trust inherited by Alexander, she claimed that the family had been denied an inventory of its contents. “All sorts of things have been sold that were part of the trust, most importantly the castle,” she said.
“Our fear is that the trust has been completely denuded by Ninian. If that is the case, then Alexander will have lost everything.”