The Saga of Astor’s Estate Continues

Earlier on this blog, I discussed the controversy surrounding Brook Astor’s estate and the various parties involved in the dispute.

The Surrogates Court proceedings concerning Astor’s estate are being put on hold by request of the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which fears that further proceedings may compromise their criminal investigation.

Here are some of the issues that the district attorney’s office is examining:

• Whether Mrs. Astor was subject to undue influence related to millions of dollars in money and property transfers in the last several years that benefited Mr. Marshall, who had his mother’s power of attorney.
• Whether those transactions were in the best interest of Mrs. Astor or if they were larcenous.
• Whether crimes were committed in the signing of an amendment to her will in March 2004 in which the possibility of forgery has been raised.

See Serge F. Kovaleski, Talks on Astor Estate Halted to Clear Way for a Criminal Inquiry, NYTimes.com, Oct. 18, 2007.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.