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An interesting end to a very public family saga ...

Mrs. Astor’s Son to Give Up Control of Her Estate

nytimes.com
By SERGE F. KOVALESKI
October 14, 2006
The son of the socialite and philanthropist Brooke Astor will have to pay more than $1.3 million, return valuable artwork and jewelry, and give up his role as steward of his mother’s financial and health affairs as part of an agreement announced yesterday to settle a legal dispute involving one of New York’s most famous fortunes.
Anthony D. Marshall, 82, and his wife, Charlene, 61, will also be required to relinquish their positions as co-executors of Mrs. Astor’s estate and to post millions of dollars in collateral in the form of a Maine vacation property to cover any potential claims against Mr. Marshall’s handling of his mother’s wealth.
The 18-page settlement, approved yesterday by Justice John E. H. Stackhouse of State Supreme Court in Manhattan after an hourlong hearing, stipulates that J. P. Morgan Chase and Mrs. Astor’s longtime friend Annette de la Renta will serve as her permanent guardians. Mrs. Astor, 104, has been in fragile health for several years.
G. Paul Burnett/The New York Times
Annette de la Renta, a longtime friend of
Brooke Astor, outside State Supreme Court
in Manhattan with her attorney on Friday.

The agreement ends a public and strikingly bitter chapter for a family that for decades had been known for its generosity and circumspection. The spectacle of warring family members trading charges of misconduct and greed began in July, when Mr. Marshall’s son Philip filed court papers accusing his father of neglecting the care of his grandmother and enriching himself from her estate, valued in the tens of millions of dollars.
Anthony Marshall, in a written statement issued after yesterday’s hearing, said: “I am pleased that these proceedings, which have been so destructive to my family and my mother’s memory, are over. Under the terms of the settlement, there will be no litigation during my mother’s life. I am sure she would be pleased with that outcome.”
Philip Marshall, 53, who had enlisted the help and testimony of David Rockefeller, Henry A. Kissinger and others as he sought to wrest control of Mrs. Astor’s affairs from his father, had his own blunt remarks.
“I was hoping we would have had a settlement a couple days into the petition, but we are overjoyed with today’s outcome, which puts Friday the 13th in a new light,” he said in a telephone interview. “We got what we wanted: the opportunity to provide the care and dignity my grandmother deserves.”
In exchange for Mr. Marshall giving up his role in his mother’s affairs, the bank, which has overseen Mrs. Astor’s financial affairs since the first court filing in July, will not pursue litigation to recover millions of dollars in cash, property and stocks that it believes he may have improperly obtained while managing his mother’s holdings. According to the settlement, any future legal claims against Mr. Marshall would be dealt with in Surrogate’s Court upon Mrs. Astor’s death and left to the discretion of an executor of her estate, to be named by a judge.
Under terms of the agreement, the Marshalls admit no wrongdoing, and any questions about the legitimacy of Mrs. Astor’s will and three codicils that amended it in late 2003 and early 2004, redirecting millions of dollars to Mr. Marshall, could be brought before a court only when she dies.
The central issue in settlement talks between father and son over the last few weeks has been whether Mr. Marshall, a former ambassador who has ventured into theater production, would agree to cede the extensive role he has had in his mother’s life, using the power of attorney he had for more than 25 years and as her health care proxy.
It became clear over the last several months that Mr. Marshall in recent years had directed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his theater production company, transferred title of his mother’s Maine vacation property to his wife, and used $100,000 of his mother’s money to finance a charitable organization founded by his wife. He had also made a lawyer with a troubled career co-executor of Mrs. Astor’s estate, but changed his mind when the lawyer’s problems became public.
Philip Marshall and others had asserted that Mrs. Astor was in no condition to approve many of the actions taken by her son.
Finally, yesterday, Anthony Marshall acceded to the request that he give up control of his mother’s affairs. Mrs. de la Renta, who is the wife of the fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, will now make many of the decisions regarding Mrs. Astor’s personal life, while J. P. Morgan Chase will oversee her millions.
Mrs. Astor, who was hospitalized briefly at the end of July, has been living at her beloved Westchester estate for months.
At the outset of yesterday’s hearing, Mrs. de la Renta testified that, as Mrs. Astor’s temporary guardian, she had decided to move her friend to Holly Hill after her hospitalization because “that’s what I considered to be her home.”

Pool photo by Thomas Hinton
Annette de la Renta and J. P. Morgan Chase are
to share permanent guardianship of Brooke Astor.

As for Mr. Marshall and his wife, the settlement requires them to pay $1.35 million — $850,000 within the next 10 days and $500,000 by July 1 of next year — to Morgan Chase to cover late penalties and interest relating to Mrs. Astor’s tax returns.
In one instance, Mrs. Astor’s 2002 tax filing, Mr. Marshall underreported about $5 million in capital gains from the sale of a Childe Hassam painting she had owned since 1970. His lawyers have said that Mr. Marshall, who arranged for the artwork to be sold, noticed the error while reviewing the tax return as part of the guardianship case.
The settlement document states that Mr. Marshall’s yacht, General Russell, will serve as collateral on the $500,000 payment.
Charlene Marshall will also be required to transfer ownership of the Maine estate in Northeast Harbor back to her husband so that it might be used as collateral against any future legal claims against them, the agreement says.
A painting by Andrew Wyeth and a grandfather clock will also be part of the collateral.
“There is substantial collateral being posted here,” said one of Anthony Marshall’s lawyers, Kenneth E. Warner. “This is not an admission of wrongdoing, but a declaration of confidence by Mr. Marshall that if there is any litigation after his mother dies he will be completely vindicated.”
According to the agreement and individuals involved in the negotiations, a revocable trust worth about $8 million to which Mr. Marshall had access will be returned to Mrs. Astor.
Part of the settlement provides for Philip Marshall and his twin, Alexander, to each receive $400,000 from the estate for their children’s education.
According to the document, the payments were included in the agreement at the request of Mrs. Astor’s court-appointed lawyer.
Copyright 2006The New York Times Company