Mrs. Astor Regrets
I just finished reading Meryl Gordon's book Mrs. Astor Regrets, and highly recommend it. The story should be interesting to anyone who likes a lurid tale that's well-told, but it has special interest to those interested in estate planning and related fields.
Mrs. Astor is, of course, Brooke Astor, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 105. Mrs. Astor was born Roberta Brooke Russell, but married Vincent Astor of THE Astors (her third and final husband) in 1953. Interestingly enough, Vincent received his fortune as a result of a famous event: his father, John Jacob Astor IV, went down on the Titanic (he was even depicted in the movie). While Vincent's father's second wife survived, as did the son she was pregnant with, a premarital agreement left most of John Jacob Astor IV's estate to Vincent.
Vincent and Brooke were married less than six years, but Brooke inherited most of his property. Brooke then turned herself into a beloved philanthropist with lots of famous friends.
But how was Brooke as a mother to her only child, Anthony Marshall (born of her first marriage)? Not so good, according to the book. Anthony was kept at a distance, especially after he left his second wife for a woman named Charlene Gilbert, who was married to the priest of the church Brooke attended at her summer home in Maine.
Brooke carried on very well for a very long time, but began to decline somewhere around her 100th birthday. What happened then is all too common, in families rich and not-so-rich: a battle over access to Brooke, and to her money. Brooke had an estate plan favoring Anthony as well as certain charities; Brooke became close to one of her two grandsons, Philip. Then, all of a sudden, Brooke seemed to be cut off from her old friends, and she signed a series of new estate planning documents -- favoring Anthony much more than before.
Initially, the controversy surrounding Brooke and her son focused on whether he was caring for her properly. (You may remember allegations that Brooke was forced to sleep on a urine-stained couch.) Philip and Brooke's old friend Annette de la Renta (Oscar's wife) were successful in having Annette named as Brooke's guardian. That caused a rift between Anthony and his sons, and things then got worse as the focus turned to the estate planning documents, which seemed rather fishy. The issues here are as follows:
-did Brooke have capacity to execute the documents? (Anthony said she was competent, but had written a letter years before discussing her Alzheimer's Disease in depth.)-did Anthony procure the documents via undue influence? (There were allegations that men in suits were "forcing" Brooke to sign certain documents, and it's unclear whether the documents were actually Brooke's idea.)
-did Anthony procure the documents via fraud? (There is evidence that Francis X. Morrissey Jr., a disgraced lawyer with ties to Anthony, forged Brooke's signature on one document.)
So, as you can see, lots of estate planning, probate, and guardianship-related issues to chew on. Even some involving professional responsibility (with respect to Francis's conduct, and the conduct of another attorney, Terry Christensen, who prepared a document for Brooke when he likely knew that she was incompetent). I previously blogged about some of this here and here.
Interestingly enough, although Brooke has been dead almost two years, the battle over her estate is just beginning. And the battle has now carried over into the criminal arena, as Anthony is currently on trial and charged with stealing from his mother. After that trial, a Will contest trial will begin over certain estate planning documents signed by Brooke.
