Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, died last month at 89. Since her death, her executor first requested, and received, permission to keep her will private resulting in secrecy regarding the value of estate and her beneficiaries. Last week her executor notified the publisher of the mass market (re: less expensive) version of To Kill a Mockingbird that it would no longer allow the publication of that version of Lee’s beloved novel.
As previously mentioned, Sam Simon was the co-creator of The Simpsons. When he died a year ago, he reportedly left his $100 million estate to various charities. However, various charities he had supported during his life were initially miffed that they had not received support from his trust during the six months after his death. Also, the individual taking care of his Cane Corso was squabbling with the Trustee about receiving insufficient funds to care for the dog. Now, his girlfriend has filed a claim against his estate alleging that Simon had promised her $5 million in his will if she quit her job. His first wife, Jennifer Tilly, also filed a claim against the estate asking to continue to receive payments from his estate for work he did on The Simpsons and the Drew Carey Show.
Reluctantly resorting to advice columns for material. A woman with 4 children mentioned that her friend with 3 children had asked her to be the guardian of the 3 children. The first woman declined the possibility of serving as guardian after discussing the 3 additional children with her husband. The second woman has since ignored her friend. The first woman sought advice/affirmation for her decision.
Madeline Castellotti was the co-owner of famed NYC pizzeria, John’s Pizzeria. Prior to her death in 2004, she changed her will to leave her entire interest in the restaurant to her daughter, Lisa. She allegedly did so because her son, Peter, was going through a divorce and she did not want his estranged wife to receive any interest in the restaurant. Lisa was supposed to transfer half of her inheritance to Peter after the divorce was finalized. When she did not, Peter sued Lisa. An NY appeals court recently ruled that his 3 year old lawsuit may proceed.
A document purporting to be the will of terrorist Osama Bin Laden was released this week. The one page handwritten document dates from the late 1990’s. It was part of a cache of documents retrieved from his compound by Navy SEALs. In it, OBL gave 1% of his estate to one of his henchmen, 1% to another, and directed his family to use the rest of the estate to fund jihad. No word on what happened to his estate at his death or whether he ever updated his will.