Joseph Broz Tito lived a life worthy of legend from fighting Nazi’s as a partisan in World War II to his fierce rivalry with Joseph Stalin that saw the Soviet dictator attempt multiple assassinations. As a result, he acquired a vast collection of items over the course of his colorful life, including gifts from his many acquaintances, and left an estate that could potentially be worth millions. But his possessions were initially ruled state property by a law passed in 1985 until a recent ruling by a Serbian court which awarded all personal possessions of the dictator to his family. However, not included in the inheritance are any possession that were state gifts and property which may lead to classification battles over such items as moon rocks presented by Neil Armstrong to Tito or a gold cigarette case presented by a former Mediterranean monarch. Another problem faced by the family is that many objects were lost during the breakup of Yugoslavia and are in other countries not covered by the Serbian courts ruling or were stolen and sold on the black market. In any event, I doubt the family will have much to complain about since they have gone decades without being allowed to inherit anything and will likely walk away much enriched in the end.
See Katarina Subasic, Family of Yugoslavia’s Tito await news of inheritance, Digital Journal, January 10, 2016.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
