Judge’s Estate Circumvents Husband

Trailblazing Judge Sheila Abdus-Shaalam’s current husband will receive nothing from her estate. Judge Abdus-Shaalam died with an outdated will that left the entirety of her $2.05 million estate to her mother and siblings. The distribution of her property was intended to exclude her third husband from inheriting and was written during a contentious third divorce.

Rev. Gregory Jacobs, Abdus-Shaalam’s fourth husband, had a right to inherit under New York law, but he waived his claim. A close friend of Abdus-Shaalam commented regarding her surprise at the outdated status of the will but said the distribution of the assets fell in line with Abdus-Shaalam’s typical treatment of her family. The friend noted that the Judge was very helpful when it came to her relatives and was especially so when dealing with nieces and nephews and their education costs.

Police initially considered Judge Abdus-Shaalam’s death a suicide after her body washed up on the Hudson. The NYPD later opened an investigation after determining that the Judge’s death was suspicious. The probe ended earlier this month with no recorded cause of death.

See Julia Marsh, Judge Who Washed up Along Hudson Cut Husband out of Her Estate, New York Post, May 19, 2017.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.