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Cheat His Mom Then Cheat His Son

Anthony Marshall was the son of socialite Brooke Astor.  He was convicted of elder abuse of his mother and served two months in jail for stealing $14 million from her.  In his will, which was recently admitted to probate court, he left all of his assets to his second wife and her children.  He specifically excluded his son, Philip Marshall, who was the individual who notified authorities of his father’s treatment of Ms. Astor.  The younger Marshall will not contest his father’s will.

Three quick points:

1.  The will would be difficult to challenge unless the younger Marshall could prove that his father lacked mental capacity to execute the will.

2.  The purposeful omission of the younger Marshall for ratting out his father is evidence that the father was mentally competent.

3.  If a man steals from his mom, it is not beneath him to vengefully disinherit his son.

brooke-astor

Mubarak and Marshall

Anthony Marshall, the 89 year old son of Brooke Astor, was paroled from prison after serving 8 weeks of a 1 -3 year sentence for stealing millions from his socialite mother when she was suffering from Alzheimer’s.   Mr. Marshall’s health problems include Parkinson’s disease and congestive heart failure. His lawyers said recently that he could not walk, stand, clean himself or dress himself and had potentially life-threatening swallowing issues. One of the issues for Mr. Marshall was whether he should have been incarcerated at all given his age.
Estate planning lessons?
I am not really certain.  Stealing from a disabled mom is obviously a bad idea and is subject to punishment. Beyond that?   Incarcerating an 89 year old seems unwise although given the amounts involved it was probably necessary.  The early release seems humane. If Egypt can release former president Mubarak this week, NY can certainly release Mr. Marshall.

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I am an attorney located in Cincinnati, Ohio who practices in the areas of estate planning, probate, asset protection, and small business advice. I make a difficult and bewildering process as simple as possible. Most importantly, I provide "more for less" for my clients.