Thursday, May 21, 2009

Brooke Astor Estate Drama

While this plays out in New York City like a popular soap opera, I cannot help but follow the going-ons of this society matron's family. Probably a guilty pleasure but fascinating to follow.

As you may know, Brooke Astor was THE person on every social calendar in New York City. She was generous with her wealth favoring the library, blindness and "disturbed children." Her motto was alleged to be “Money is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around.”

While New York society doesn't really interest me, towards the end of her long life, (she lived to 107), her family's dealings with her read like an exam question in an Estates and Trusts law class.

Currently, Ms. Astor's son, Alexander Marshall, is on trial, criminally charged with conspiracy, scheming to defraud and grand larceny. Basically, he is accused of taking his mom's money. I have no idea how the court will find, but the criminal charge is not where this case started.

In 2006, one of Ms. Astor's grandsons, Philip, who is the son of Mr. Marshall, paid a visit to his grandmother. More about how this visit was arranged in a moment. While he was there, he found her apartment to be very dirty and in a condition atypical for her. From this visit he filed a petition for guardianship of Mrs. Astor stating that his father allowed her to live in squalor. Apparently he felt that a woman of this wealth was living way below her means and this grandson sought a change of guardianship in order to provide better for her. Mr. Marshall had another son, Alexander, and while he didn't join in the guardianship proceedings, was noticeably quiet about his father's defense. Family visits were discussed at this later criminal trial. It seems that when these family members visited each other, whether grandmother or father, an appointment had to be made, calendared, and likely only to occur a couple of times a year. Just dropping in was either not allowed or not expected.

This leads me to the criminal trial. Ms. Astor died in August of 2007. The following November, largely started as a result of the prior guardianship proceedings, prosecutors found enough evidence to indict Mr. Marshall for the charges mentioned above. At the criminal trial, which is currently under way, both sons were called to testify against their father.

What started out as philanthropy and a busy social calendar, ended with an elderly woman, living in what appears to have been squalor, possibly taken advantaged of by her own son, with father and son having to face each other in trial on opposite sides of the courtroom. My earlier blog about avoiding financial elder abuse would be my recommendation here if I were an attorney involved in a similar case. Unfortunately, the sadness of these stories are all too real in my practice. Perhaps not as wealthy or well known clients, but still just as heart and family tearing as the events surrounding the Astors.

No comments:

Post a Comment