A lineal descendant of Henry VIII's wife, Jane Seymour, is seeking to remove the trustees of his family's wealth after he was left disappointed that he did not receive the manor house, Ragley Hall (pictured) when he turned 30. 

The Earl of Yarmouth claimed that his life was “upended” when his expectations that he would take over the family estate aged 30 were not met and that he has required counselling as a consequence. 

His family dispute the Earl's claim saying that family relations had disappointed around the time of his wedding to the (now) Countess of Yarmouth and that he has already received more than £4m worth of value from the family estate in land and property whilst the trustees deny any allegations of bias made against them in the Earl's attempt to seek their removal. 

After a bitter seven year dispute, the claim was heard by Judge Brightwell in the High Court last week, with judgment reserved to a later date. 

Whilst we are more than used to seeing this kind of dispute evolve in trusts and estates post-death, the claim is an interesting example of a disappointed beneficiary bringing a claim that pre-dates his potential entitlement from his parents' estate (both of whom are still alive) - given the size of the estate at stake, I can't help but wonder whether this is this a one-off or a sign of a future pattern of pre-emptive inheritance disputes?