|
|
Will Forgery- Yes, It Happens
While many estate planning attorneys contend that forgery is a rare occurrence in the estate planning world, a recent guilty verdict for Brooke Astor's son, and his lawyer, shows that it can, and does, happen. Barring an appeal, the jury's verdict means that Mrs. Astor's son, Anthony D. Marshall, an 85-year-old war veteran who fought at Iwo Jima, can be sentenced to anywhere from 1 to 25 years behind bars. The prosecution had portrayed Mr. Marshall as greedy, saying that he was driven to squeeze his mother for money at the urging of his wife, Charlene. On Thursday, Charlene Marshall sat stoned faced as the verdict was read.
Charges associated with document forgery are more common than proven cases of it. Most of the time they are alleged by an adult child who feels short-changed by a parent's will. Typically, such individuals will accuse a sibling of falsifying the document.
The majority of forgery claims result a finding that the will had not been tampered with and that the signature on the will is legitimate.
While witnesses to the signing of a will are supposed to watch the actual signing by law, many forgery cases arise from the witnesses failure to properly witness the signing.
Document experts have many tools at their disposal. These may include infra-red light that can reveal whether multiple inks are present on a document, or whether there have been alterations or additions to it. High-powered microscopes are used to detect whether a writer stopped and started a lot during a signature.
For the most part, estate planning lawyers don't see this kind of activity on a regular basis. Nonetheless, it is certainly something of which to be aware.
Since most states require that one or more people actually witness the signing of the will, the likelihood of successfully pulling off a forgery is greatly reduced.
Most will contests involve issues surrounding competency and undue influence. These issues may be much more difficult to resolve as they concern the subjective mind of the testator at the time of the signing.
|
 |
Please Rate: |
|
Rating: |
 Processing ... |
(Average: Not rated) |
| Views: | 28 | |
|
| More Articles from Law | | |
| Top Articles in Law | | |
|
