Judge hands farm to brothers in family will row

But Mr Justice Briggs did find that George Key did not have the necessary capacity to make the will and did not approve its contents, which left the farmhouse to his daughters.

The ruling means that Hall Farm in Mundham, Norfolk, will go to brothers Richard, 67, and John Key, 64, under the terms of an earlier will. They had already been given 100 acres of farmland each by their father when he was alive.

The brothers took legal action against their sisters, Jane Key, 66, and Mary Boykin, 57, after their father died aged 90 in 2008 and they found out about the new will.

Mr Justice Briggs said the dispute between Mr Key's children had "transformed the formerly close relationship between his sons and daughters into one of mutual suspicion, recrimination and distrust".

He added: "While this judgment will, subject to any appeal, resolve the legal issue as to the validity of the 2006 will, I entertain no expectation that it will heal the underlying wounds, however much I would have wished otherwise."

Richard Key said his father had wanted him and his brother to have the farmhouse as they had worked in the family business since they were 15.

He claimed: "They definitely doubled the sleeping tablets to knock him out." A bottle of whisky kept at the farmhouse for several years was "strangely empty" when he next visited, he claimed.

Mr Justice Briggs did not accept the allegations that his sisters "deceitfully conspired" to force his father to change his will in their favour.

However, the judge ruled the 2006 will invalid.