Kemp Klein Attorneys Joseph P. Buttiglieri and Robert S. Zawideh successfully represented the plaintiffs in a case in which they had been disinherited. The matter involved a complex will contest concerning a solitary man who died without a spouse or children. The decedent never owned real estate, a car, a phone, or a computer, and had no recent relationship with his two nieces, his only heirs.

At the time of his death, his estate was valued at approximately $21,000,000. Three years earlier, the decedent became a ward of the court. At that time, all involved, including the decedent, believed he did not have a will. During the guardianship and conservatorship, the decedent told a psychiatrist that he did not have or want a will, and he repeated this in two independent psychological evaluations. Prior to the wardship, he made similar statements to his financial advisors. Both psychologists concluded that the decedent had testamentary capacity.

The conservator advised the court that there was no existing estate plan and that one would need to be created regardless of the decedent’s wishes. The court then appointed an attorney to assist the ward in preparing an estate plan. From 2018 through 2020, the court-appointed attorney drafted multiple wills, three of which were executed. Each contained different distributions of the decedent’s property and expressly disinherited his heirs. One will left more than $5 million each to two recently hired caregivers, while the final will left the entire estate to several charities with which the decedent had no prior relationship.

Following the decedent’s death, his nieces objected to the probate of the last proffered will, arguing that he died intestate. Thereafter, another charity produced an unwitnessed, nonholographic document it claimed to be a valid will. Given the number of purported wills, a significant issue arose regarding dependent relative revocation, raising the possibility of separate jury trials for each instrument.

After extensive and contested litigation, the parties agreed to a 60/40 division of the estate. The 40% group, which was not included in the final will, proceeded to arbitration to determine allocation of that share. After several days of arbitration, the group requested that the arbitrator act as a mediator, and the matter ultimately resolved with a substantial recovery for the disinherited nieces.