Changes to will leads to criminal elder abuse case

Posted on Jun 05, 2009

Heiress Brooke Astor's attorney was called to testify in a criminal elder abuse case that sprang from multiple changes to her will when she was 101.  Astor's attorney was called as a prosecution witness but was questioned, at times, as though he were a hostile witness.  The prosecution contends he exhibited loyalty to both Mrs. Astor and her son.

This can be a real source of tension for families with aging parents who are not as sharp or spry as they used to be.  A well intentioned attorney can come to rely on communications from an adult child and not realize the requests being made are the child's requests, not his or her client's request.  Such divided loyalties can result in charges of undue influence and lack of capacity if there is a will contest.  If the adult child "helping" his or her parent also received any property while the parent was alive then financial elder abuse charges, criminal or civil, can result.

In this case, many millions of dollars were at stake which is why, I suspect, a criminal case was filed.  Had this case involved a family with a more modest estate then the other children would probably have had to bring a civil case if they were going to get the inheritanc intended for them.

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The Grossman Law Firm, A.P.C. are Riverside, California probate lawyers.  We help probate estates in Riverside County, California.  We appear in the Riverside probate court for cases in the area bounded by Temecula, Corona, and Banning, California.  We appear in the Palm Springs/Indio probate court for cases from Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, Indian Wells, and Indio, California.  If you  would like more information on probate and trust administration then order our free book The Insider's Guide to California Probate and Trust Administration as well as our free DVD Probate a Will or Administer a Trust After the Death of a Loved One.