Why do people get so so greedy when there is a will/inheritance involved?

Like you, I find this very hard to understand. My parents didn't leave me any inheritance (they were poor and didn't own property) but coming from an ordinary working cl background it had never really crossed my mind that people inherited stuff before. Now I hear tales from people at work (who are mostly middle cl) about such and such a relative trying to ingratiate themselves with granny after 30 years of ignoring her, because she is old and has a house worth a lot etc etc. Maybe the boom in UK property prices also has something to do with it - before, people didn't own houses so much (like my parents) but if they did they weren't worth much generally. Nowadays even a grotty London flat goes for �250k, which is surely worth squabbling over!