Man gets DNA from estranged father’s body to claim inheritance

Jordan Adlard-Rogers has just moved into his dad’s multimillion-dollar estate. But he faced an epic legal fight before he could claim it.

Jordan Adlard-Rogers is considered to be one of the luckiest people in the UK after he recently scored a multimillion-dollar inheritance from the father he never knew he had.

But now the former broke labourer has revealed fresh details of the intense legal battle he faced before he was finally able to claim it.

Last week, Mr Adlard-Rogers made global headlines after revealing he had been named the legal heir of troubled aristocrat Charles Rogers who died last August at age 62.

The 31-year-old inherited his father’s historic Penrose Estate — said to be worth £50 million ($A92 million) — as well as a weekly allowance of £1000 ($A1848) after a DNA test proved he was the man’s son.

While Mr Adlard-Rogers grew up suspecting Mr Rogers could be his father, he never knew for sure and had almost no contact with him.

Penrose Estate has been in the Rogers family for generations. Picture: Facebook/Jordan Adlard Rogers

After Mr Rogers’ death last year, Penrose Estate manager Philip Care allegedly told the father of one he would need to prove his lineage quickly if he was to inherit the estate.

That’s because a cousin was trying to have Mr Rogers cremated as soon as possible before the DNA test could be carried out, The Sun reports.

“I didn’t want to rush to do anything. It seemed disrespectful. But Philip stressed I had to move urgently,” Mr Adlard-Rogers told the publication.

“I knew I needed to do it for me and for my baby who had a right to know his family.”

In the end, he was able to carry out the DNA test just two days before his father’s cremation.

It proved he was Mr Rogers’ rightful heir, and he has since moved into the sprawling, 20-room estate with his partner and new baby.

Charles Rogers, pictured in his youth, died a recluse. Picture: Facebook/Jordan Adlard Rogers

He said he had no hard feelings towards the relative who tried to block his inheritance, but he told The Sun the experience had been devastating.

“I understood their reasons and don’t bear any grudge, but it was gutting,” he said.

“Worst of all, they said they wanted their cousin — my dad — to be cremated as quickly as possible. I was so stressed I couldn’t sleep.

“My last chance of discovering the truth was slipping away.”

Since moving into the 6,215,971sq m Penrose Estate, Mr Adlard-Rogers has found a portrait of his father in his youth that he says proves the family resemblance.

He shared a snap of the painting on Facebook, which a friend described as the “absolute spitting image” of the younger man

Jordan Adlard-Rogers is said to be the ‘spitting image’ of his father. Picture: Facebook/Jordan Adlard Rogers

The estate has been in the family for many generations, and although it was given to heritage organisation the National Trust in 1974, the Rogers clan signed a 1000-year lease, which means they are able to remain on-site.

But despite his family’s wealth, Charles Rogers’ body was found in his car last August, with an inquest confirming “methadone toxicity” was the cause of death.

For decades he had lived as a recluse, isolating himself from friends and family and turning his back on the estate he officially inherited in 2012 after the death of his father, Lieutenant Commander John Peverell Rogers, living in his car instead.

The estate’s long-term manager told the inquest Mr Rogers was malnourished and had been neglecting his personal hygiene at the time of his death.

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