When Private Fights Over Millions Become Public (Things Get Ugly)

Ms. Neumann-Donnelly has filed multiple lawsuits against her father, and at least one also sued her two sisters, attempting to force them to sell art held in trust which had a value estimated to be more than $50 million. She represents her mother’s estate and has publicly called her father a spoiled brat in court documents, stating that he “the epitome of the child with rich parents who wakes up on third base and thinks he hit a triple.”

Minor family fights are unescapable, but large, public squabbles are the types of conflicts that most people try to avoid. When they include millions of dollars these brawls can be splayed on the newspapers and gossip columns. But no matter the size of the fight or the dogs in it, legal action among family members has become a booming business for lawyers who specialize in estate litigation. Two reasons for the increase in litigation is the increase in wealth to fight over and the increase in blended families.

Though there is no magic solution to family conflict, communication and forming a plan for a person’s estate prior to death could assist. Unequal divisions among children should be explained, says Blanche Lark Christerson, managing director at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management.

Often, disinheriting a person entirely leads to more aggressive confrontations by those family members that feel cheated. Dean R. Nicyper, a partner at the law firm Withers Worldwide, said parents might feel they had justifiable reasons for writing a child out of their will. In these cases there may not be a simple resolution without legal battles, unfortunately, even with prior notice and discussion.

See Paul Sullivan, When Private Fights Over Millions Become Public (Things Get Ugly), New York Times, February 8, 2019.

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

Special thanks to Matthew Bogin, (Esq., Bogin Law) for bringing this memorandum to my attention.