The daughter of the late billionaire publisher Richard Mellon Scaife is contesting her fathers will by alleging that he was subjected to undue influence. Jennie Scaife alleges that Mr. Scaife’s attorney H. Yale Gutnick had gotten Mr. Scaife to sign his initials on his will while he was sick and confined and isolated in his bedroom. The billionaire’s two children, Jennie and David Scaife, were both not included in their father’s will. The will maintained Mr. Gutnick’s position as chairman of the board of Tribune-Review newspaper, and he is also the executor of Scaife’s estate and the Trustee of a number of Scaife family foundations. Undue influence is a difficult claim to prove, but if the judge did invalidate the will then Scaife’s estate will either be distributed according to an earlier will or to the children via intestacy.
See Rich Lord, Scaife’s daughter seeks to invalidated billionaire’s will, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 9, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
