Stokes Lawrence’s trust & estate litigation attorneys helped a family charitable foundation defend a $40 million estate from undue influence, restoring the decedent’s true wishes and safeguarding bequests intended for family and charity.
Our client is a long-established family charitable foundation created by a 96-year-old aerospace entrepreneur following the death of his wife. The foundation was designed to carry forward the couple’s philanthropic vision and had been designated to receive more than half of the entrepreneur’s estate. When the founder passed away, the foundation sought to ensure that his legacy—and the charitable mission he carefully built—was honored.
In the final years of the entrepreneur’s life, as he experienced age-related physical and cognitive decline, an individual outside the family systematically worked to isolate him from relatives and longtime colleagues at his aerospace company. Once positioned as a gatekeeper, the individual exerted pressure on the decedent to execute a series of wills in quick succession, each one increasingly favoring the individual, disinheriting the family foundation and another charity, and creating significant and unnecessary tax consequences. These actions also reduced the inheritances intended for grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Our client faced the difficult task of challenging multiple improperly procured wills while protecting the decedent’s original philanthropic and family-focused intent.
Working closely with the foundation board members, co-counsel for family members, and the other charity, our team challenged the validity of the later wills and prepared for a two-week trial. We built a comprehensive case showing the decedent’s vulnerability, the individual’s isolation tactics, and the stark deviation from the decedent’s longtime estate plan. Our litigation strategy ran in parallel with complex post-mortem tax planning, including estate tax, GST tax, and charitable deduction considerations. This collaborative approach ensured that we were not only prepared to win in court but also positioned to implement the correct legal and tax outcomes once we did.
After the first four days of trial, when it was clear we would prevail, the individual agreed to settle for a fraction—approximately 3 percent of the estate—far less than the share he had wrongfully attempted to secure. While still more than he deserved, the resolution eliminated all risk that he might benefit from exploiting the decedent, and it restored the estate to its intended beneficiaries: the family foundation, another designated charity, and the decedent’s descendants. Our work ensured that the decedent’s legacy was protected, his charitable intentions were preserved, and his family’s inheritance was restored.
Our partnership with the foundation continues today as we support them in fulfilling the mission the entrepreneur envisioned.
