A new EstateofDenial.com column is posted in the Commentary section. We’ve long wanted to write this piece about the similarity of details regarding Brooke Astor’s estate and those of other Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA) cases in which probate venues and/or probate instruments (wills, trusts, guardianships and powers of attorney) are used to loot assets of the dead or disabled/incapacitated.
Many people may think the criminal acts with which Anthony Marshall, Astor’s son, and Francis X. Morrissey, an estate planning attorney, are charged are unusual. True enough that most estates don’t have value such that nearly $200 milllion can be looted as is alleged. And most families aren’t lucky enough to have their disputes investigated and prosecuted as the criminal enterprises that they are – they have to fight it out in civil courts which often provides an automatic advantage to the looters.
Nonetheless, many of the circumstances, attitudes and tactics are quite familiar with the most important point being that you don’t have to be a celebrity, you don’t have to have a large estate (anything less than $1 million can be especially enticing) to become a target of modern day grave robbers or other property poachers.
Check out Grave Robbing Affects More than Astor-nomical Estates and let us know what you think.
Estate of Denial® provides news, analysis and commentary on abusive practices occurring in probate courts and via probate instruments (wills, trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney). We provide original perspective to educate the public regarding this growing threat to both individual freedoms and property rights.
