David Rockefeller and Brooke Astor

Following the death of David Rockefeller, John D. Rockefeller's last surviving grandson, Tbe New York Times recalls his role as friend and protector of his fellow philanthropist, Brooke Astor.

If you need to refresh your memory of "arguably the most sensational, high-profile case of alleged elder abuse ever to make the tabloids," scroll down our posts on the story.

Brooke Astor's Defenders in the News

Brooke Astor's grandson Philip Marshall and a few friends like David Rockefeller helped rescue her from the clutches of Philip's father, Anthony Marshall. Both grandson and Rockefeller are in the news this month.

Philip was disinherited (no surprise) by his father.

 David Rockefeller this month celebrates his 100th birthday. The last surviving grandson of John D. led Chase Bank to global prominence and, despite a chronic case of philanthropy, still possesses a few billion.

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Inspired by his grandmother's difficulties, Philip Marshall has launched Beyond Brooke, dedicated to the cause of elder justice. Today, according to his calendar, Philip attended the 2015 White House Elder Justice Forum.

Brooke Astor's Son Released From Jail

Imprisoned in June, Anthony Marshall has been granted medical parole. According to The Daily News, the Manhattan District Attorney's office is not amused.

Brooke Astor's Son Loses His Appeal

We are not convinced that as an aged felon Marshall should be categorically immune from incarceration.

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The lack of a criminal history is an ordinary circumstance that does not vitiate a prison term for obtaining millions of dollars through financial abuse of an elderly victim.

      – Justice Darcel Clark, New York State Appellate Court

 So ends (barring further legal maneuvers) a saga of elder abuse first noted on this blog almost seven years ago. Anthony Marshall, elderly son of Brooke Astor, faces three years in prison, The NY Post reports.

Auctioning Brooke Astor's Stuff

Next month Sotheby's will auction off items from the late Brooke Astor's Park Avenue duplex and her country place, Holly Hill. Above, a detail from her portrait by Aaron Shikler,  expected to fetch $10,000-$20,000.

Below, a portrait of an Aberdeen Angus bull by Herbert Haseltine. Like Shikler, Haseltine was popular with the high-society set, and Astor owned a number of his bronzes.

Will collectors be eager to acquire Astor's knick-knacks? We'll see.

Was a Little Inheritance Worse Than None?

Madeleine Astor

Although John Jacob Astor IV went down with the Titanic, his teenage bride, Madeleine, five months pregnant, survived. In an earlier post, we surmised that Astor's posthumous child received none of the family fortune.

Not quite. Before fleeing abroad for an extended honeymoon – New York and Newport society considered him a bounder and a cad for marrying a girl younger than his son, Vincent – Astor had made a new will providing for Madeleine. Thanks to Astor's careful lawyers, the revised will also left $3 million to any child who survived Astor but was not mentioned in the will.

Jakey, as Vincent's little half-brother was called, received his inheritance at age 21. Was the fund still worth $3 million when delivered in the Depression year of 1933? Even if it was, Jakey's wealth was puny compared to the $200 million or so Vincent had received.

Resentment of the disparity may have contributed to what sounds like Jakey's wasted life. (He skipped college, tried working, quit, and never took another job.) The enmity of his half-brother, Vincent, probably contributed to Jakey's isolation. He may have received an inheritance of sorts, but as  today's estate planners might say, he missed out on the family legacy.

Update: April 14. Reportedly you can catch a glimpse of John Jacob Astor IV (and maybe Madeleine?) on this weekend's ABC Titanic miniseries. April 15: Yup, there they were at the lifeboat, though Madeleine looked mature for a teenager.

Brooke Astor's Other Beneficiaries

Brooke Astor's 87-year-old son, Anthony Marshall. gets $14.5 million under the will settlement announced today. One major charitable beneficiary, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, gets $20 million or so, presumably including $3 million in token compensation for the Childe Hassam flag painting, sold by Marshall, that the museum expected to receive.

Not yet tallied, the immense sums the dispute has generated over the years for lawyers – lawyers for the estate, lawyers for family members, lawyers for assorted charitable beneficiaries, even lawyers for lawyers.

JPMorgan Chase and Howard Levine, the estate's administrators, won't do badly either. The Court instructed them to split one administrator's fee, not to exceed $5 million.

Want all the details? The New York Daily News has posted the court papers here.

Learn "Estate Management" From Mrs. Astor's Butler

Remember Christopher Ely, Brooke Astor's devoted butler? The Wall Street Journal (subscription) tells us that he's now dean of a proposed Estate Management Studies Program. Aspiring "private service professionals" will be able to learn from the master at Dorothy Hamilton's French Culinary Institute, a branch of her International Culinary Center. Here's the press release.

Brooke Astor's Duplex Sells for a Song

While appealing his conviction for swindling his mother, Brooke Astor's son has run up millions of dollars in legal bills. Perhaps, the NY Post suggests, that's why the Astor estate is willing to sell her Park Avenue duplex for less than half the original asking price of $46 million.

Mansion for Sale – and Dig That “Open House”

In the 1940s Vincent Astor moved from his Hudson River mansion to Astor Courts, a sporting complex on the estate (tennis and squash courts, swimming pool, etc.) which he had converted to a home. After his marriage to Brooke Astor, presumably they lived there from time to time.

Tomorrow, Astor Courts hosts Chelsea Clinton's wedding. The place is for sale, and perhaps the lavish "open house" staged by the Clintons will entice a buyer.

“Grand Theft Astor:” The Sentence

Quote of the day, from Justice A. Kirke Bartley Jr., who sentenced Anthony Marshall to one to three years in prison for looting the fortune of his mother, Brooke Astor:

“It is a paradox to me that such abundance has led to such incredible sadness."

With time off for good behavior, The New York Times speculates, Marshall may be out of jail in time for Veterans Day.

The Astor Update

Brooke Astor died in 2007. On December 21 her 85-year-old son, Anthony Marshall, will be sentenced for the criminal offenses of which he was found guilty. (Merry Christmas!) In January 2010 a NY Surrogate's (probate) Court may begin to decide which codicils to her will are valid.

Brooke Astor's Son Guilty

You be the judge: What punishment fits these crimes, committed by a man now 85 years old?

Why Probate Courts Were Invented

Writing in The Huffington Post, trusts and estates lawyer Herbert Nass argues that the criminal trial of Tony Marshall, Brooke Astor's son, was a bad idea from the start:

Regardless of the final verdict, I believe that this case has set a dangerous and bad precedent just by the fact that it was ever commenced at all.

The probate, or surrogate’s, courts in New York, and in most states, are specialized courts that understand and address all of the intricate legal issues involving testamentary capacity, undue influence, forgery and fraud. The judges and clerks in those courts deal with all of these issues on a daily basis, although rarely involving the magnitude of the assets of Mrs. Astor. The Astor case may be an extreme case of overreaching by her only child, or it might not be, but to have made it a criminal matter at the outset is, in my opinion, the wrong way to approach what is initially a civil, family matter.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/herbert-nass/brooke-astors-will----doe_b_292621.html

Forewoman of Astor Jury Attacked

The Plot Thickens . . . ?

Old People + Will Changes = Estate Battles

Daily news stories report on the trial of Anthony Marshall, charged with bullying his mother, Brooke Astor, into making will changes that could eventually benefit the daughter-in-law she disliked. Similar estate battles are not unknown, as John Eligon reports in this New York Times roundup.

Can or should more be done to protect people in their twilight years – to shield them from avaricious caregivers or greedy relatives? (The protection, in these cases, is really for the beneficiaries named when the elderly person was still functioning on all cylinders.)

Another “Dis-Astor”

The Daily News reports Chaos in the Courthouse when Anthony Marshall, Brooke Astor's son, fell today when taking a bathroom break. One can't help feeling sorry for the elderly Marshall. As we've observed before, "The Case of the Astor Will" is woefully miscast.

And yet … Marshall's reported conduct toward his mother could appear mean and avaricious in the extreme. He sold one of her favorite paintings, Childe Hassam's "Flags, Fifth Avenue (1917)," allegedly telling her that she needed the money. A dealer paid $10 million. Marshall awarded himself a $2 million "commission."

Art dealers customarily pay no more than half the price they hope to get for a work. The dealer reportedly resold "Flags, Fifth Avenue" for over $20 million.

The Most-Hated Tax?

You know how most people (Messrs. Gates and Buffett excepted) feel about the death tax. Imagine how they feel about the other transfer tax – the one Uncle Sam expects you to pay while you are still above ground.

The subject of federal gift tax came up at Tony Marshall's trial yesterday. Brooke Astor, his mother, had signed a letter in August 2003 authorizing him to receive a $5 million gift from her. In the letter she also agreed to pay gift tax on the $5 million.

As The New York Times reports, the $5 million gift looked a lot smaller by the time it was reported on Mrs. Astor's gift tax return for 2003.

A Case of Premeditated Probate?

Most-visited article relating to the trial of Brooke Astor's son, Anthony Marshall, according to Google: On Sample Tax Form, Mrs. Astor Died Early.

Tax Deductions For Gifts To Foreign Charities

Gifts to charity are often income-tax deductible; bequests to charity are usually exempt from federal estate tax. But those tax incentives apply to gifts to U.S. charities. Individuals intending to give or bequeath significant sums to foreign charities need special planning if they hope to gain similar tax benefits. In US tax treatment of gifts to foreign charitable entities, G. Warren Whittaker explores various strategies, including private foundations.

If Mr. Whitaker's name sounds familiar, that's probably because he is the distinguished estate lawyer who succeeded Brooke Astor's longtime lawyer, Henry Christensen III, after Astor's son, Tony Marshall, had Christensen fired.

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In his fourth day of testimony at Marshall's trial, Christensen said he distinguished between Mrs. Astor's competency to execute a codicil and her ability to comprehend a whole new will:

After he was fired, Mr. Christensen said, he warned Mr. Marshall that while his mother could follow narrowly focused changes to her will, she was in no condition to seismically alter her estate plans. “I did not believe she was competent to sign an entirely new will,” Mr. Christensen said.