Dispute Over Reynolds Fortune Heads to Court

A legal battle over the estate of the late Virginia Sargeant Reynolds, an heir to the Reynolds Metals fortune, has poured into a Richmond Circuit Court. 

Virginia Reynolds, who died in January 2014 at age 99, was the widow of Richard S. Reynolds Jr., former chairman of Reynolds Metal Co. She also was the mother of the late J. Sargeant Reynolds, a former lieutenant governor of Virginia.  In her will, she left a “token gift” of $200,000 to her son, Richard S. “Major” Reynolds.

According to a court filing, Major Reynolds is now seeking more — a piece of an additional $1.8 million that has yet to be divided. The trustees of the estate are asking a judge to decide whether that is a violation of the will, which contains a no-contest clause that says if any party contests or disputes the will, he or she receives nothing.  If a judge rules that Major should be stripped of his inheritance, the trustees also want advice on how Major’s $200,000 should be redistributed among Reynolds’ heirs.

See Ned Oliver, Dispute Over Reynolds Fortune Spills into Court, Style Weekly, March 17, 2015.