Estate of Denial on the Brooke Astor estate

How sad that Brooke Astor, a woman known to appreciate beauty in many life venues, likely spent her last years being exploited by her son, Tony Marshall, in the ugliest of manners.   Marshall and lawyer Francis X. Morrissey Jr. are accused of looting Astor’s nearly $200 million estate of cash, art and real estate.

A major theme of this web site is to provide analysis of how Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA) actions found in high profile cases often parallel the looting acts perpetrated on estates of far less value.  In other words, these high profile cases can establish precedents – both good and bad, official and not – that impact people at all levels of the economic spectrum.

After having studied numerous IRA cases, listed below are random thoughts based on John Richardson’s Vanity Fair article describing the Astor estate dispute.

• Brooke Astor appeared to be a woman who, in early life, recognized wealthy men to be a vehicle for moving herself into a position of social and financial prominence and was comfortable with that reality.  Simultaneously though, she used her own abilities to establish personal credibility as a skilled writer with special vision and access for reporting on elite and cultured lifestyles.  EoD Red Flag Alert #1:  Beware women (or men) who forcefully (and unnaturally) pursue relationships for social and financial gain.

• Those with deep-seated resentment and insecurity rarely leave this “baggage” behind.  When end-of-life matters come into play, animosity can resurface with a vengeance.  Richardson describes Tony Marshall as a child never truly accepted by Brooke and her subsequent husbands.  Perhaps Brooke was disappointed in her only child.  A lifetime of family relationships in which one never perceives their position as “full-fledged” can again spark serious resentment.  EoD Red Flag Alert #2:  Same as #1 except also applies to children who view their familial life as full of slights.

• Charlene Marshall was described as trying too hard and not always successfully fitting in – at least by Brooke’s standards.  Both Charlene and Tony were described as having concerns that Brooke would outlive Tony thus perhaps resulting in Charlene receiving little or none of Brooke’s fortune.  EoD Red Flag Alert #3:  #1 + #2 = family turmoil waiting to happen.

• In 2000, Tony aggressively documented Brooke’s diminishing capacity, but did not dispute her competence when, in 2003, Brooke allegedly authorized the transfer to Tony of a cherished and valuable summer home in Maine.  Six months later Tony transferred the property to Charlene and in doing so, generated a gift tax bill of more than $3 million for Brooke.  EoD Red Flag Alert #4:  Competency can become an interesting issue when dealing with those disposed to asset looting.  First off, it’s hard to prove, but past that, the looters will work to have it both ways (the IRA target is competent, then not, then maybe back again) based on the looter’s actions needing justification.

• After the property transfer, Tony fired some of the summer home staff who would have been eligible for bequests (per Brooke’s will) under an “if still in my employ” clause.  EoD Red Flag #5:  Isolate the IRA target from those most familiar.  It helps the looter to assert more control.  Also, as in the case of individuals included in the will, this preemptive strike might help to diminish would-be heirs that might later contest the estate.

• Tony is also accused of selling an important painting for below market value.  The buyer then immediately sold it for considerably more.  Taxes were not paid on the initial sale.  EoD Red Flag Alert #6:  Many targeted in IRA cases report how property is often quickly sold off – many times to someone within the looting circle such that benefit from an IRA action remains within a limited circle of perpetrators.

• Richardson describes an exchange in which Brooke signed a document to gift Tony $5 million that otherwise would have gone to charity.  Actions on the part of the attorney who executed the document sound suspicious.  When Brooke with the help of her butler tried to later obtain a copy of the signed “gifting” document, they were refused.  EoD Red Flag Alert #7:  Beware attorneys or other fiduciaries who withold documents.  If it’s a power play alone, management of an estate is not the appropriate venue to display one’s flakiness.  Past that, this could be an indicator of even bigger trouble ahead.

• Per the Vanity Fair account, Tony Marshall’s enlistment of assistance from Francis X. Morrissey seems to have taken things to an entire new level of IRA.  Read Richardson’s account of how Marshall and Morrissey along with a number of new “hired gun” lawyers became even more aggressive with Brooke Astor’s estate.  We won’t even attempt a recap as the ugliness is in the detail and the VF article well lays it out.  EoD Red Flag Alert #8:  It’s the same old story of when lawyers hire lawyers to defend their positions.  Sometimes they gin up their own legal actions, other times they provoke contests — all for the goal of billable hours which is sometimes used as a form of estate looting.

Finally, when her grandson and other friends intervened for the “rescue” of Brooke Astor, the situation had surpassed financial elder abuse and appeared to have elements of physical and mental/emotional abuse as well.  Brooke Astor was one of America’s, if not the world’s, most famous women.  She had financial and personal resources that exceeded more than what many people can even dream of.  But nonetheless, she became an IRA target as well as an elder abuse victim.

The motivation and tactics used to exploit Brooke Astor are also utilized daily on people with far less resources.    Take this information seriously.  We hope that awareness and fear of public exposure might help deter the increase of these cases.  People who knew Brooke Astor would never have anticipated the last years of her life to be as they were.  IRA and other elder abuse happened to Brooke.  It can also happen to you.