The Case of the Pretermitted Astor

Back in 1959, The New York Times recalls, there was another fight over the Astor estate. Vincent Astor had died leaving everything to Brooke. John Jacob Astor VI, Vincent's half brother, tried to horn in on the money.

John Jacob VI had some reason to feel he had been cheated of wealth. Madeleine Astor, his mother, was five months pregnant when her husband put her in one of Titanic's lifeboats. She was rescued eight hours after her husband went down with the ship. As a result, John Jacob VI was left out of his father's will, a pretermitted heir. And as Wikipedia notes, his mother inherited little from her new husband but real estate and the income from a trust.

Update: The baby was not entirely disinherited, as explained here. Trouble is, he remained poor compared to his wealthy half brother.