Tag Archives: brooke astor

Astor Estate Finally Settled

Estate settlement

The estate of socialite Brooke Astor has finally been settled, AP News reports.  Her will has been hotly disputed since 2007, when she died at age 105.  In 2009, her son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of manipulating Astor’s fragile dementia to make changes to the will in his favor.  In the final settlement, Marshall will receive $14.5 million, nearly half of his fraudulent earnings.  Much of that will have to be paid back, on account of his conviction and being a general scumbag.  $100 million will go to charities, as were Astor’s original wishes.  Astor was a generous philanthropist since the death of her husband, real estate magnate Vincent Astor, donating millions to the poor and to artistic pursuits.  True to form, among the charities to benefit from today’s settlement is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which will receive about $20 million.  All that money has been held up for nearly five years when it could have been doing something productive, which means that, overall, this is some very good news for charity.