The family of a Birmingham soldier, killed whilst on duty in Afghanistan, are trapped in a legal battle with his girlfriend over the allocation of his estate.

Corporal Rob Deering was killed by a bomb in the dangerous Hellmand Province region of Afghanistan last December, whilst serving with the Commando Logistic Regiment.  A dispute over whether a new Will was prepared before Cpl Deering’s death has fractured relations between his long term girlfriend and the Deering family.

Gemma Polino and Cpl Deering had begun living together 12 months before his death after dating for more than four years, but Elaine, Cpl Deering’s sister, was left the estate in a Will written in 2006.

Ms Polino, who will now receive £10,000 a year from the MoD as compensation for her loss, believes that a new Will was drafted before the soldier’s previous return from Afghanistan in 2008.

Ms Polino claims she was written into the Will as the benefactor from Deering’s life insurance payout, but that the MoD has lost the document.

“What she’s saying is totally untrue,” said Elaine Deering.  “We know Rob did not make another Will because he did not want to change it.”

The Deering family are seeking legal action to remove a caveat from the 2006 Will, which Ms Polino has enacted to lay claim to all the inheritance.

“We offered her the house but not the money and she wanted more. Now we don’t want her to have anything,” added Ms Deering.

The MoD offer optional storage to their service personnel to maintain the safety of their Wills. An MoD spokesman said: “In the case of Cpl Deering, after extensive searches we have no records to show that a new Will was lodged with us.”