Companion Seeks Portion of O’Quinn’s Estate

Below is the story of a Houston lawyer who left behind a large estate and a will that makes no provision for his long-time companion.

John O’Quinn, a legendary lawyer in Houston, made millions from breast implant lawsuits and tobacco litigation.  In the summer of 2008, O’Quinn executed a will stating that he was single and leaving his entire estate to his charitable foundation.  The will left nothing to Darla Lexington, who lived with O’Quinn for more than ten years.

O’Quinn passed away in October of 2009.  Lexington has now requested that O’Quinn’s estate executor consider her as O’Quinn’s wife.  Lexington has not filed any legal papers yet and is trying to handle her claim discreetly, but her attorney claims that O’Quinn introduced Lexington as his wife on multiple occasions.

See Mary Flood, O’Quinn’s Companion Seeks Part of His Estate as Common-Law Wife, Houston Chronicle, April 21, 2010.

Special thanks to Peter Parlapiano (2011 MBA/M.S. PFP candidate, Texas Tech) for bringing this article to my attention.