Will containing “Beat” Author’s Estate Challenged 20 Years Later

The Sixth Circuit recently ruled that the will of the mother of Jack Kerouac, a Beat generation author, is fake, relying on the mother’s lack of mental capacity to write a will and the fact that her signature appears to be forged.

Kerouac predeceased his mother and left his estate to her.  When his mother died in 1973, her will left the estate to Kerouac’s third wife and not Kerouac’s daughter. In 1994, Kerouac’s family first challenged the will as a forgery.  All parties alive when the will was drafted are now dead.

Kerouac’s estate should now pass to his surviving nephew.

See Christine Armario, Fla. judge rules will on Kerouac’s estate a fake, AP, July 28, 2009. 

Special thanks to Raymond Sheffield (attorney, Sheffield Law Office, San Jose, CA) for bringing this article to my attention.