[2] He was the rightful heir of his elder brother William Beaumont (1427–1453), a substantial landholder, but faced claims to his inheritance from his bastard nephew, John Bodrugan, "The Beaumont Bastard", the illegitimate son of Joan Courtenay,[3] William's wife.

His will was dated 1 January 1472/3 and requested that a marble stone should be laid on his body, with his arms graven on it, and his portraiture of copper, with this inscription on it:[10] Testis sis tu Christe, quod non-jacet hic lapis iste Corpus ut ornetur, sed ut spiritus memoretur.

Be thou witness, O Christ, that this stone does not lie here to adorn the Body, but to commemorate the spirit.Clearly this had not been performed by 1488 as in that year his younger half-brother and heir Thomas Beaumont (died 1488) repeated the request in his own will.

[citation needed] The rhyming Latin verse may be translated as: "Thou art a witness O Christ that this stone is not an adornment for the body but a memorial for his soul".

Beaumont bequeathed his estates in two directions:[citation needed] The manors of Umberleigh and Heanton Punchardon were left to his nephew Sir John Bassett (1441–1485)[12] of Whitechapel in Devon, the son of his sister Joan Beaumont who had married John Bassett (1374–1463) of Whitechapel, Bishops Nympton, Devon, and of Tehidy in Cornwall, Sheriff of Cornwall in 1449.