Lynda Bellingham’s sons slam stepdad Michael Pattemore as they get just £50k each in bitter inheritance battle

LYNDA Bellingham’s sons have been left disappointed after learning they will get just £50,000 each from their mother’s £5million estate – while the rest goes to their stepdad Michael Pattemore.

Michael and Robbie Peluso have been embroiled in a bitter inheritance battle with their estranged stepfather since their mother’s death in 2014.

Last week Michael - who was married to Lynda from 2008 until her death in 2014 – told how he had given the boys a £750,000 flat, which they would be receiving a monthly income from as it’s rented out.

He also claimed he had been through "18 months of hell" because Lynda was reportedly in £50,000 debt at the time of her death.

But now the sons have hit back at his comments, claiming he has distorted the reality of the situation.

Speaking to the Michael said: "It’s a kick in the teeth hearing about his hell when he’s sitting on around £5million of property, much of which was bought with our mum’s money. None of Mum’s friends or family will speak to him now."

And discussing the flat they have been given, he said: "The flat has a £576,000 mortgage on it. Under the terms of the agreement, we have to sell it within two years. We aren’t allowed to live in it.

“It has tenants until next July and when we sell it, we have to pay Pattemore’s £30,000 capital gains tax. We owe our lawyers £60,000, so we’re looking at walking away with less than £50,000 each.

“But this was never about the money – it’s about the fact that our mum trusted him to look after us, and that hasn’t happened. At least we’re finally nearer to the point where we can have nothing more to do with him.”

Following Lynda’s death the boys become locked in a bitter battle with Michael and claimed he had deprived them of their inheritance, saying they had only seen £750 each of their mother’s huge fortune, that he had evicted them from their family home and squandered the late star's cash on lavish holidays.

The sons claimed Michael had told them she had written a will leaving everything to him and he only give them a tiny cash handout.

During an interview on This Morning, they said they weren’t challenging the validity of the will – in which she left everything to Michael – but said she “may have been under heavy medication” when she signed it.

They also accused him of disrespecting their mother in an interview shortly after her death in which he claimed to have sex with her ghost.

Michael has since slammed the claims and has said that Lynda would be "rolling in her grave" over the rift between him and her sons regarding what she left them in her will.

Speaking on This Morning on last week he said: "She would be rolling in her grave [at the thought of the rift]. I think there's a puppeteer pulling their strings. They thought there was a huge pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but there wasn't.

"I've given them a flat. Their first email over to our email lawyer was: 'My boys wanted a roof over their head.' I've supplied them with a roof over their head and now they want it sold. She specifically wanted that I give them the first million and then divide the rest up between our four children - my two kids and hers."

Michael also revealed that the former Loose Women panellist was in £50,000 in debt when she died but they had money tied up in properties worth millions.

He explained: "I've had 18 months of hell... she was £50,000 in debt. That's a fact. Across bank accounts and credit cards. Even though she was in debt, we had properties worth several million pounds. Those properties are all in mortgage and they bring an income in now.

"What the boys never told the nation was that in my will, they got left the first one million pounds plus a quarter share of the remainder of the properties. They could've walked away with a couple million pounds."

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