![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/woman-wins-30-year-legal-tug-of-war-with-her-family-over-suitcase-full-of-photos/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2_PAY-JudithAndersson1.jpg&description=A luxury hotelier has won a barmy 29-year legal battle with her own family over a suitcase full of photos that belonged to her dead mother. Judith Andersson, 76, and her brother Tim's widow Diane Ward, 77, racked up £70,000 in legal fees fighting over a family archive of papers and pictures previously owned by her mother with "no monetary value." The treasured archive was said to be a valuable record of the history of her family, which founded Jerusalem's iconic American Colony Hotel. The high-end hotel became a destination for celebrity visitors to the city and played host to Lawrence of Arabia, Winston Churchill and Bob Dylan, among others. Following Frieda Ward's death in London in 1993, the photos ended up in the hands of Judith's brother Tim Ward. But after he and their other sibling John both died within a month of each other, she launched a court fight to get them. The family of hoteliers have been at loggerheads over a suitcase of photos for three decades ( Champion News) She sued Tim's wife Diane and son Peter, as executors of his estate, at Central London County Court, demanding that they give her the archive - contained in a purple suitcase which was brought to court. Handing victory to Judith last week, Judge Mark Raeside KC said the photographic archive had been held by Tim on trust for all three siblings and that it was now "Judith's time to benefit from them". And in a case previously described by another judge as "completely mad" since it involved items of "no monetary value", he ordered Diane and her son Peter to pick up the £70,000 lawyers' bill for the case. The court heard during the trial that Frieda was born in Jerusalem, where her grandparents Horatio Gates Spafford and Anna Spafford formed the American Colony in the late 19th century, centered around a former palace that became the American Colony Hotel. The 'colony' was of devout American and Swedish Christians, who were known for their charity work with local people, irrespective of their r){kind=link}
A judge called the dispute over the photo archive âcompletely mad’ as Judith Andersson and her brother’s widow Diane Ward spent an eye-watering amount battling it out in court for the purple suitcase
A luxury hotelier has won a barmy 29-year legal battle with her own family over a suitcase full of photos that belonged to her dead mother.
Judith Andersson, 76, and her brother Tim’s widow Diane Ward, 77, racked up £70,000 in legal fees fighting over a family archive of papers and pictures previously owned by her mother with “no monetary value.”
The treasured archive was said to be a valuable record of the history of her family, which founded Jerusalem’s iconic American Colony Hotel.
The high-end hotel became a destination for celebrity visitors to the city and played host to Lawrence of Arabia, Winston Churchill and Bob Dylan, among others.