A judge has ordered the children of American illustrator Tasha Tudor to divide her ashes in a bitter family feud over her estate.
Bethany Tudor holding the book she authored about her mother, artist Tasha Tudor
The dispute centres on Tudor's decision to leave almost everything to her eldest son, virtually cutting out her three other children from a £1.2 million will.
Tudor, once described as an "unconventional Martha Stewart," was famous for living an idyllic, back-to-basics life in New England where she went barefoot, spun flax to make linen for clothes, raised Nubian goats for milk, and looked after her beloved Corgis.
She painted gentle watercolours, wove baskets, held elaborate doll weddings and marionette shows, and floated birthday cakes down the river for her children.
She illustrated books including the The Secret Garden, Little Women and Mother Goose as well as producing her own works such as Corgiville Fair and The Great Corgiville Kidnapping, which were popular all over the world, especially in Japan and Korea. Fans would take £100 tours of her home, a replica late 18th-century farmhouse.
She died at the age of 92 on June 18, 2008, following complications from a stroke, and grievances among her children are now spilling out in a probate court in Marlboro, Vermont. Her will, written in 2001, left the bulk of the estate to Seth Tudor, 67, and his son Winslow.
It left only £600 each to her two daughters, Bethany Tudor, 69, and Efner Tudor Holmes, and a piece of antique furniture to younger son Thomas Tudor, 64, because of their "estrangement" from her.
Thomas Tudor, a US Air Force lawyer, who claims he was not estranged from his mother, is challenging the validity of the will and has accused his brother of wielding undue influence over their mother.
Seth Tudor, who is still heavily involved in upholding the Tudor traditions, rejects his brother's accusation as a baseless attack on a valid will.
The dispute even got so bad that the siblings could not even agree what to do with their mother's ashes and a judge divided them in half.
One set was buried by three of the children under a rosebush she loved in her garden, the rest by her eldest son where her precious Pembroke Welsh Corgi dogs already lay.
Thomas Tudor said: "Seth got the ashes, we went outside and he gave us half the ashes, and he went down to his property and scattered or buried the ashes there, and we scattered ours. It was really an unpleasant situation." Lawyers are now fighting over the smallest details, including who was responsible for a £90 snow plough bill.
Bethany Tudor, who had been estranged from the late author since 2000 and now lives in a mobile home, said her mother had ignored advice to put her assets into a four-way trust.
She said: "Of course I'm angry at her. A kind, loving mother wouldn't let that happen." Mrs Holmes, who broke off communications in 1996, said her mother had lived in a "fantasy world" and refused to talk about "real life issues." Speaking last year, Mrs Holmes said: "Some of the last words she said to me were 'Oh, will there ever be a cat and dogfight when I die. But I don't care. I won't be here to see it.'"
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