Mrs. Astor Regrets

Last year I suggested a good book for the aging family or professionals in aging interested in undue influence. The recently published tome is on the tabloid Brooke Astor case. The book is Mrs. Astor Regrets, by Meryl Gordon Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, 2008. Mrs. Astor lived to be 105 and was a storied philanthropist. She gave her entire Foundation away to great causes, many in New York. Her 83 year old, only child was indicted on charges of robbing her estate of millions. The story catalogs three generations of a quintessential dysfunctional family, who use the treacherous tools wielded by these kin to eat away at each other, in a bloody multigenerational family war. They even produce art that tells the ultimate dysfunctional family story, when Philip Astor, the accused son, teams with his devious wife, to produce a revival Long Days Journey Into Night, on Broadway. I personally consider this play the ultimate dysfunctional family story.
The allegations of undue influence, where new wills are signed by elderly Mrs. Astor when she may not have the capacity to legally sign, are pure elder fiscal abuse material.
This novel makes make the stiff dry legal morass of undue influence, a compelling read and the swirl of probate attorneys, elder law attorneys, conservatorships and even a geriatric social worker who acts like a geriatric care manager, in the end, create pure theater for our aging profession.
The Astor case in now on trial in New York City and you can follow it in the New York Times, or just by googling Brooke Astor.I do not offer this as sensational journalism but a clear way that alleged undue influence can happen in any aging family

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/nyregion/29astor.html?em