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.
Slow times in the newsworthy estates area. Going back a few months, Andrew Getty was the 47 year old grandson of J. Paul Getty who died of a meth overdose last year. His father, Gordon Getty, filed a claim against his son’s estate for repayment of $14 million that he allegedly loaned him. Gordon Getty is also seeking the return of 55 pieces of art valued at $1 million. The younger Getty’s Hollywood Hills house was listed for sale this week at $8 million.
Several quick points:
When she died in 2003, a Maine woman left almost of all of her $200,000 estate for the care of the unwanted and abandoned cats in her hometown. Her two page will appointed trustees to administer the funds but did not specify who should actually receive the funds. Now, two women who run makes shift cat shelters have sued the trustees and the attorney who drafted the will.
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