Estate Planning, Probate & Elder Law Attorneys

» Her Fearful Symmetry, the Victorians, and Decapitation Provisions

The holiday break gave me a chance to finish Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry, which I mentioned in my last post. There are a few references to probate and estate planning in the novel, but this is my favorite -- it's a quote given by one of the main characters (Robert) while he gives a tour of London's Highgate Cemetery (which plays a major role in the book).

"Before modern medical technology, people had a difficult time determining when someone was really dead. You might think that death would be pretty blatant, but there were a number of famous cases in which a dead body sat up and went on living, and many Victorians got the jim-jams just thinking about the possibility of being buried alive.

Being a practical people, they attempted to find solutions to the problem. The Victorians invented a system of bells with strings attached that went through the ground and into the coffin, so if you woke up underground you could pull on your bell till someone came to dig you up. There's no record of anyone being saved by one of these devices. People made all sorts of odd stipulations in their wills, such as asking to be decapitated as insurance against an undesired revival."

A Will with a decapitation provision? Excellent!

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» Brooke Astor Saga Reaches Conclusion

I reviewed Meryl Gordon's book Mrs. Astor Regrets earlier this year (here) -- it was one of my favorite books I read in 2009.

The trial of Mrs. Astor's son, Anthony Marshall, is coming to a conclusion (barring appeals). Mr. Marshall was found guilty of "looting his mother's fortune" (another lawyer, Francis X. Morrissey Jr., was also found guilty) -- here is the story. I can't understand why the maximum sentence is only 3 years -- why is that? Because Mr. Marshall is rich? Ugh.

I'm also a little troubled by this line in the article:

The judge noted Marshall's World War II service and the possibility that the late Astor herself would have been aghast to see her son imprisoned, but he added that the law left him no choice but to impose a prison term.

1. Would Mrs. Astor REALLY have been aghast, in light of what her son did to her?

2. I realize that many people want to give members of The Greatest Generation a free pass (and unlimited free health care, free prescriptions, etc.) as a result of their actions in World War II, but I can't figure out why Mr. Marshall's heroics 60+ years ago have any bearing on this case.

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