Not A Great Day in Harlem

The suspicious April death of Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam, the first Black woman to serve on New York’s Court of Appeals (the state’s highest court) has been ruled a suicide. Her body was pulled from the Harlem River the day after her fourth husband reported her missing. Video recorded her walking near the banks of the river.

This is not a whodunnit piece. Instead, the interesting info is that Judge Abdus-Salaam left an estate worth $2 million and a 2004 will that pre-dated her most recent marriage by 10 years. The will left 25% of her estate to her mother who died in 2012 and the balance equally among her siblings, including her brother who died in 2014. The primary asset in her estate was a Harlem brownstone valued at $2 million which she purchased in 1980 for $6,000. Her husband is a minister and has blessedly waived his statutory right to inherit part of her estate even though he was not included in her will.

Several points, some salient:

1. Judge Abdus-Salaam missed many opportunities to update her will - the death of her mother, the death of her brother, and her subsequent fourth marriage.

2. I advise my clients to review their estate plan every five years to assure that key events like the death of a beneficiary or the divorce of the designated guardian are taken into account in the documents.

3. The widower of Judge Abdus-Salaam might have waived his rights to inherit due to a pre-nuptial agreement between him and the judge although he might simply be an honorable man and waived the rights so her family could benefit.

4. I doubt that I am the only person who wishes he had invested de minimis amounts in Harlem real estate in 1980.

5. I am aware of the Hudson River and the East River, but the Harlem River is new to me.

Photo Credit:  AP
License: Fair Use/Education

Jinxed? No, Just Smart.

Robert Durst is the NY real estate heir who was recently arrested in New Orleans for the 2000 murder of his friend, Susan Berman, who was found dead with a single gun shot wound to her head.  She had supposedly been contacted by police about the 1982 disappearance of Durst's first wife shortly before her death.  Durst has been married to Deborah Lee Charatan, an ambitious NY real estate broker, since 8 days before the murder of Berman, although they had dated for 12 years prior. Durst was bought out of his family's trust for $65 million in 2006 and is now reportedly worth $100 million. In the finale of HBO's series, "Jinxed", Durst is recorded as saying he killed them all (i.e wife, friend, and neighbor).  Haratan is reportedly living with one of Durst's lawyers even though she is still married to Durst.

Several quick points:

1.  As a general rule, spouses are not required to testify against each other in a trial so a marriage to Charatan would protect Durst from any testimony by her about his past and where the bodies are buried, so to speak.

2.  If Durst dies in prison, Charatan will likely inherit a large portion of his estate.  It is difficult to entirely disinherit a spouse - in Ohio a spouse is entitled to half the probate estate if there are no children, even if the will provides otherwise.

3.  It is high stakes gambling to be involved with someone suspected of killing a spouse and girlfriend, and who was acquitted of killing and dismembering a neighbor while living as a mute woman, although a payoff of $50 million at his death might make it worthwhile. Emphasis on might.

4.  Living with one of the attorneys of someone who killed and dismembered a neighbor is not advisable due to the possibility of raising his ire and meeting the same fate as his wife, friend, and neighbor.  Living 1,000 miles away would be the smart play.