Madeleine Stockdale: New Jersey Probate Litigation
This article describes a pretty interesting probate litigation case involving a woman named Madeleine Stockdale. In 1998, Mrs. Stockdale signed a Will leaving most of her estate (valued at over $5 million) to the Spring Lake (New Jersey) First Aid Squad. On January 3, 2000, about 3-1/2 months before her death, Mrs. Stockdale signed another Will, naming a neighbor (Ronald J. Sollitto) as primary beneficiary -- this Will was prepared by an attorney friend of Mr. Sollitto.
Since Mrs. Stockdale's death in April 2000, the $5 million plus question has been this: Is the January 3, 2000 Will valid? In July 2004, the trial court ruled that it wasn't, and threw out the January 3, 2000 Will.
My big concern here is, what has taken so long? The trial on the Will's validity ended more than four years after Mrs. Stockdale's death, and it took four months. The case is now on appeal, with no end in sight.
The issues involved in a Will contest tend to be fairly simple -- they involve (1) whether the creator of the Will (the testator) had the mental capacity to execute the Will and (2) whether someone unduly influenced the testator. This Bleak House-esque case -- dragging on and on, benefiting only the attorneys -- succeeds at little more than giving probate a bad name.
