This assumes, by no means safely, that the RSPCA, the RSPB and Blue Cross, who were legally compelled by Melita’s will to fight her daughter, do not open yet another chapter of the whole sad story by taking the case to the supreme court. In other parts of the country, particularly in the north, poverty, high rental markets and far less house ownership [mean that] when people become elderly they simply can’t pay for their long-term care, so those local authorities – which are already struggling because it’s a poor area – are going to get far less contributions to their care bill. Their children can step in to help, of course, but in doing so they will lose what meagre earnings they’ve been able to get without having had any help from their parents through university.

Disinheritance and the law: why you can’t leave your money to whoever Disinheritance and the law: why you can’t leave your money to

Most people think this drives a coach and horses through someone’s autonomy to leave their estate to who they want. Whilst not being the outcome that either they or their father would have wanted, the five children hope that the sale will prove successful and bring a final closure to what has been a very difficult period in their lives.

For the generations who grew up hoping to bequeath and to inherit – Melita Jackson’s and Heather Ilott’s generations, roughly – this is a sharp disappointment. The production also proved popular with Alf Molyneux, a friend of Fred’s who travelled around the country with him on a traction engine.

Widow Sheila’s delight as life with Fred turns into a drama Widow Sheila’s delight as life with Fred turns into a drama

But due to an ongoing dispute with Mr Dibnah’s widow, Sheila, whom he married in 1998, the will — which was read in 2007 — has still not been settled. The divorce rate is falling now, but higher rates of divorce in recent decades have created many second and third families, who don’t always agree about what should happen when someone dies.

In short, there is a real prospect of the new generational contract locking into place a division between two classes, based on home-ownership and education.

engine for sale in bid to settle will dispute Fred’s engine for sale in bid to settle will dispute

For centuries, “freedom of testamentary disposition” – the right to put your money where you like – has been presumed by many Britons, but now it is crumbling at the edges.In fact] the idea that getting on to the property ladder was not only to own your house, but it was something you passed on down through the generations, actually will be quite short-lived in this country.

Sheila Dibnah - 2QT Sheila Dibnah - 2QT

People are only realising it slowly, but this means that in England and Wales you are no longer completely free to bequeath what you want to who you wish. The middle classes across the 20th century,” Harper says, “wanted to leave something to their children in the way that the very wealthy had before the first world war. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community.

With the law still evolving, it is extremely difficult to say with certainty whether you will win, but as Smallcombe points out, you don’t need certainty to make progress. You may have heard about Melita Jackson and Heather Ilott this week, and you may have been surprised by how the story ends (if indeed it really has ended). Mrs Dibnah, who tours the country speaking about her late husband’s work, said she was “delighted” that the saga was coming to a close.