A family who took two Bristol delivery men to court claiming they had forged the signature on their uncle's will to get his £420,000 estate have settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Relatives of furniture shop owner Percy Rawlings, from Church Road, Lawrence Hill, had gone to Birmingham County Court to challenge the will which named brothers Philip and Peter Gibbs as its main beneficiaries – and left nothing to his relatives.

Mr Rawlings' niece Theresa Beddis and nephew Colin Rawlings asked a High Court judge to rule on whether the signature on the will was genuine.

But after a lengthy case Mrs Beddis, who had hired a private detective, and representatives for the Gibbs' brothers agreed to settle out of court.

Barrister Michael Roberts, who acted for the Gibbs' brothers, confirmed that the case had been settled out of court and a confidentiality agreement was in place, preventing either side from talking about the settlement.

In April, Birmingham County Court heard that when Mr Rawlings died, aged 90, of natural causes at Frenchay Hospital in February 2007, a will was found, dated March 8, 2004. It left the majority of his estate to Philip Gibbs, 49, of Crown Hill, Soundwell, and Peter Gibbs, 43, of Gloucester Road, Staple Hill – who worked for Mr Rawlings, making deliveries from his shop.

The Gibbs brothers, who run a business called FJ Gibbs in Grosvenor Road, St Paul's, selling second-hand goods, say they believed the money was left to them as a thank-you for looking after Mr Rawlings during the last years of his life.

Their legal representative Michael Roberts told the court that his clients were good friends and neighbours to Mr Rawlings between 2001 and his death in 2007, helping him with his laundry, groceries, pension and even taking him for haircuts.

Giving evidence, Mrs Beddis said the family did not dispute that the brothers had been a help to her uncle but did not believe he would have left nothing to the family.

Giving his evidence, Philip Gibbs claimed that Mr Rawlings' family had not visited him for 40 years and that he and his brother Peter had visited Mr Rawlings four times a day for the last five years of his life.

Mr Gibbs also denied he and his brother had tried to obtain enduring power of attorney when Mr Rawlings was in hospital, as claimed earlier in the trial.

He added: "Percy made comments about leaving us the shop after he had his stroke. I never thought anything of it, really. I didn't think he would be leaving us any of his assets. He was a very private person – I am not surprised he didn't tell me about it."