Legal Questions Surround Changes to Astor’s Will
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Public institutions such as the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum Art, which benefited from Brooke Astor’s philanthropy, could emerge in court as the main objectors to how Astor’s fortune is bequeathed.
With Astor’s death yesterday at 105, a variety of charities could question three changes made to Astor’s will in the last four years.
Two of those alterations dramatically shift control of money previously slated for charities of Astor’s choosing to her only child, Anthony Marshall, a source close to the case said.
The effect of the second amendment, made when Astor was 103, is to give Mr. Marshall a portion of her personal trust, the source said. Prior to the change to the will, Astor’s personal trust, valued at $62 million last year, was to provide Mr. Marshall with an income during his life and go to charity at his death, the source said. An earlier amendment granted Mr. Marshall authority to decide which charities were funded by Astor’s charitable trust.
“This will be a fight between Tony and the charities,” the source said. “The charities will contest it, not the family.”
Spokesmen for both the Public Library and the Met declined to comment.
It is also possible that Mr. Marshall will not seek to enforce those amendments to the will, in which case the proceedings in Surrogate Court in Westchester may involve little litigation. A lawyer for Mr. Marshall declined to comment yesterday.
The last year of Astor’s life was marked by a high-profile dispute over the quality of the care she received in her extreme old age. Mr. Marshall’s son, Philip, accused his father in court papers of elder neglect. While a judge found the claims unsubstantiated, the case raised questions about Mr. Marshall’s management of his mother’s financial affairs, prompting the Manhattan district attorney, Robert Morgenthau, to open an investigation.
Astor’s death yesterday is not expected to have any effect on the investigation.
Although Mr. Marshall and his wife were named co-executors of Astor’s estate, both gave up that role during the court proceedings over the elder neglect claims. It is unclear who will serve as administrator now.
