The court battle over Brooke Astor's care may be over, but the nasty family feud was still raging yesterday.
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A lawyer for Philip Marshall, the grandson of the 104-year-old philanthropist, slammed the court-ordered probe's finding that allegations of "intentional elder abuse" against the elder Marshall could not be substantiated.
"This does not mean that Brooke Astor was receiving an adequate level of care on Anthony Marshall's watch," Phillip Marshall's attorney Ira Salzman said.
The ruling by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice John Stackhouse ordered Anthony Marshall to return more than $11 million in cash, jewelry and art to his mother. It also said that a court-appointed official couldn't pin down the abuse allegations lodged against him.
But Salzman countered that all of Philip Marshall's allegations "were supported by statements from eyewitnesses."
"If the case had not been settled, Philip Marshall's attorneys were prepared to prove that the care Brooke Astor was receiving on Anthony Marshall's watch was not appropriate, especially given her wealth and circumstances," Salzman said.
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The most emotionally charged allegation in the Brooke Astor legal tussle was that her only son, Anthony D. Marshall, had denied his 104-year-old mother her dignity and compromised her care by reducing her to pitiable conditions in her Park Avenue duplex and skimping on her medication.
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Philip Marshall’s lawyer, Ira Salzman, said in a statement yesterday, “Whether Anthony Marshall’s actions in caring for his mother are characterized as ‘elder abuse,’ ‘neglect’ or something else, the fact remains that all the allegations in Philip Marshall’s petition with regard to the care of his grandmother were supported by statements from eyewitnesses.”
Mr. Salzman noted that under the terms of an Oct. 13 settlement reached by the parties, Anthony Marshall, 82, abdicated the right to make health care and financial decisions for his mother. Mrs. de la Renta and J. P. Morgan Chase were named Mrs. Astor’s guardians.
“In terms of whose position was vindicated and whose was not, the settlement speaks for itself,” Mr. Salzman said. “As a result of this proceeding, Brooke Astor will be able to live out her days in safety and security.”
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Beginning in late 2003, the last will and testament of the socialite and philanthropist Brooke Astor was amended by a series of documents that redirected millions of dollars to her son, Anthony D. Marshall, and made him sole executor of her estate.
Now the propriety of those documents is being challenged by Mrs. Astor’s legal guardians. They question whether Mrs. Astor, now 104, was mentally competent to understand the changes to her will that she signed. In court papers, they also say that they intend to hire handwriting experts to determine if the signature on the documents is really Mrs. Astor’s.
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In court papers filed yesterday, one of Mr. Marshall’s lawyers, Kenneth E. Warner, said he had learned that the couch in Mrs. Astor’s apartment that served as a bed for her and apparently smelled of urine had been cleaned. Ira Salzman, Philip Marshall’s lawyer, revealed in court documents on Monday that the cleaning had taken place since his client filed the court petition on July 20 and before an inspection of the apartment by lawyers at the beginning of August.
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Updated 2:17 PM ET September 1, 2006
If there was ever hard proof that the gilded age was over, it's the sad, sordid story of alleged greed, wealth and family dysfunction that has surrounded one of America's great philanthropic ladies.
"Anthony Marshall has repeatedly refused to use his mother's great wealth to provide for her basic needs," Ira Salzman, the attorney representing Philip Marshall in the suit, alleged in one document.
"Mr. Marshall has refused to pay for any new clothing for his mother...the last time new underwear, brassieres, nightgowns and knee-high socks were purchased was in 2004."
Salzman says that one of Astor's servants used to dress her in a scarf, but was told to stop doing so "because Mr. Marshall was concerned about the $16.00 cleaning bill for each scarf."
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By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS Published: August 29, 2006
Several news organizations appeared in State Supreme Court in Manhattan yesterday seeking access to legal filings in which the socialite and philanthropist Brooke Astor’s grandson is challenging the trust that provides for her care. The trust is managed by Mrs. Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, and his son, Philip, has raised legal questions about her care. The case is now sealed, and Katherine Bolger, a lawyer representing The New York Post, The Daily News, The Associated Press and The New York Times, told the court that unsealing the matter was in the public interest. Ira Salzman, a lawyer representing Philip Marshall, said the information about Mrs. Astor’s health should remain private.
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By DAREH GREGORIAN and STEFANIE COHEN
August 29, 2006 -- Brooke Astor's son has been menaced since accusations he mistreated his multimillionaire mom surfaced, his lawyers complained yesterday.
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Philip Marshall's lawyer, Ira Salzman, said making the case public would be "unfair" to Astor. He also contended that she was a public figure only because of her philanthropy - she's given away $200 million to various causes over the years - and she "should not be punished for her generosity."
The Boston Glode (associated Press)
By Tom Hays, Associated Press Writer | August 29, 2006
NEW YORK --A judge agreed on Tuesday to partly open the court file in the family feud over the care of 104-year-old philanthropist Brooke Astor.
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At a hearing earlier this week, Philip Marshall's lawyer, Ira Salzman had argued that intimate detail of Astor's declining health "is not the kind of thing that belongs on the front page of the newspaper."
By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN - Staff Reporter of the Sun August 29, 2006
Lawyers for Brooke Astor's family yesterday asked a judge to keep the public out of the courtroom where the 104-year-old philanthropist's guardianship case will be argued.
A lawyer for Mrs. Astor's grandson said intimate details of Mrs. Astor's family life are expected to emerge during the hearings. Those details, the lawyer, Ira Salzman, said, should not be splashed across the front of New York newspapers.
"This is not about rich and poor," Mr. Salzman added. Mr. Salzman's client, Philip Marshall, brought a lawsuit that accuses his father, Anthony Marshall, of neglecting to care for Mrs. Astor in recent years. He has accused his father of cutting Mrs. Astor's staff, neglecting to fill her prescriptions, and of refusing to buy her new clothing, among other things. Anthony Marshall has denied the accusations, and has said that his aging mother has a staff of eight attendants in her Park Avenue apartment.
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NEW YORK (AP) August 28, 2006 -- The grandson of 104-year-old philanthropist Brooke Astor and news organizations squared off in court Monday over whether a family feud over her care is of genuine public interest or just fodder for gossip-mongering journalists.
Intimate detail of Astor's declining health "is not the kind of thing that belongs on the front page of the newspaper," attorney Ira Salzman argued on behalf of the grandson at a hearing in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. Coverage of the case so far, he added, has been "nothing more than gossip."
Justice John Stackhouse did not immediately rule on a request by The Associated Press, the Daily News, The New York Times and the New York Post to reopen the case file.
It was sealed in July at the request of the grandson, Philip Marshall, after the Daily News reported that he had gone to court to remove his father as her legal guardian.
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By Ellen Barry, Times Staff Writer - July 28, 2006
NEW YORK — Mrs. Astor wouldn't have wanted it this way. Into her late 90s, she rarely left her apartment without a fresh manicure and a string of pearls, explaining, "People want to see Mrs. Astor, not some dowdy old woman." She sent handwritten thank you notes. She did not believe in gossip.
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Astor's grandson, Philip Marshall, has filed a petition asking that Astor be placed under the guardianship of Annette de la Renta, wife of clothing designer Oscar de la Renta. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 8.
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Calls to Philip Marshall and his lawyer, Ira Salzman, were not returned Thursday.
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Among the friends who filed supporting affidavits in the case were former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and David Rockefeller, onetime chief executive of Chase Manhattan Bank. Rockefeller spokesman Fraser Seitel said Rockefeller got involved "out of friendship, pure and simple."
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BY HELEN PETERSON DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER- Originally published on July 27, 2006
As her family feuds over her care, Brooke Astor is fighting her own courageous battle against mortality. Astor, the 104-year-old patron saint of New York society and charity, has been quietly moved to Lenox Hill Hospital, the Daily News learned yesterday.
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Meanwhile, Philip Marshall, who lives in South Dartmouth, Mass., agreed that his grandmother is an icon, but said he could not talk about the case.
"The proceeding was started because my client was concerned about the care his grandmother was receiving," said attorney Ira Salzman, who represents Philip Marshall. Salzman, who specializes in elder care and guardianships, declined to comment further because the case is pending in court.
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