Brooke Astor heir Anthony Marshall leaves sons out of his will; millions will go to second wife and her children

Anthony Marshall, who died in November at 90, disinherited his sons, who accused him of abusing his philanthropist mother Brooke Astor. His second wife Charlene will inherit his millions.

The grandsons of philanthropist Brooke Astor say they won’t contest their father's will, which left his many millions to his second wife and her family.

"I just talked to my brother. We are moving on. We're not going to contest the will," Philip Marshall, 62, said in a telephone interview from his home in Massachusetts.

A will for Astor's son, Anthony Marshall, was filed Tuesday in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court.

Marshall, who died in November at 90, left everything to his wife, Charlene, and her three children from a previous marriage. He specifically says in the six page document that he is leaving nothing for Philip Marshall or his twin brother, Alexander, who lives in Vermont.

Philip Marshall — along with two of Astor's friends, society bigs Annette de la Renta and David Rockefeller — blew the whistle on his father in 2006, telling authorities that Anthony Marshall abused his mother, a beloved philanthropist who died a year later at 105.

An investigation led to the criminal prosecution of Marshall and Astor's estate planning lawyer. They were accused of manipulating Astor — who had Alzheimer's — into signing wills that took millions from public charities and put it in Marshall's pocket.

Ultimately, Marshall was convicted of stealing $14 million from his mother by spending lavishly on Charlene and paying himself millions in commissions to sell Astor's artwork and manage her affairs.

He served two months of a one- to three-year sentence, the sentence cut short because his bad health.

Philip Marshall said he tried several times to reconnect with his father after the criminal case but was not successful.

And he said he wasn't surprised by the terms of his father's will.

"I knew the minute I tried to help my grandmother that I would be disinherited ... it was of no consequence to me. I would do so again — I would help my grandmother irrespective of the consequences to me."

The value of Marshall's estate is unclear. In Surrogate Court documents, his lawyers say his estate is worth less than $10,000 but that does not include real estate or assets in trust funds.

Brooke Astor's $100 million estate was divided up in May 2012 when a Westchester court made Marshall accept a 50% cut in his share of his mother's estate. The other half went to pay restitution for his crimes. He was left with an inheritance of $14 million.

That same month, Marshall signed the will which disinherited his sons and their children, leaving everything to Charlene, her children and grandchildren.

Charlene Marshall's inheritance includes all of Marshall's books, artwork and jewels that he inherited from his mother. She also gets income from a trust fund and whatever was left in an alimony trust fund that was set up for Marshall's first wife, Thelma, who died in February.

Philip Marshall on Wednesday marveled at the fact that his grandmother, who used her money for years to try to improve the quality of life for people, is continuing this tradition by lending her stature to the cause of elder justice and quality of life at the end of life.

"All social justice causes need a narrative ... a face. My grandmother has given a face to elder justice," he said.

Marshall said that since her death, he has set up a website called Beyond Brooke to chronicle the work he is doing to give visibility and power to the elderly who are abused by loved ones, caretakers, lawyers and other professional on whom they depend and trust.
 
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Brooke Astor heir Anthony Marshall leaves sons out of his will; millions will go to second wife and her children