Béla Bartók's New York estate was in court for 22 years, and the trustee claimed his manuscripts

Béla Bartók died in New York in 1945. His will named Victor Bator and Julius Baron as executors. Baron was allowed to resign on 15 March 1956, leaving Bator as sole trustee. Bator ran the estate until his death in 1967. A 1981 Washington Post report says Bartók's younger son, Peter, first sued in 1958, alleging mishandling, and that the suits ran 22 years in Manhattan Surrogate's Court. It reports Peter sought about $1.3 million in fees^†. The disputed items included a portrait, letters and a violin concerto manuscript^†. One summary says the trustee asserted personal ownership of most of the manuscripts, and that Peter defended the estate's title largely without a lawyer^†. Bartók's widow, Ditta Pásztory, died in 1982. In 1987 and 1988 the former New York estate and archives passed to Peter. In a separate copyright suit, Bartók v. Boosey and Hawkes, 523 F.2d 941, the federal court granted summary judgment to the publisher over renewal rights. Peter died in 2020. In September 2026 Trinity University reported its researcher Carl Leafstedt bought Peter's Bartók Records collection from his heirs after a lengthy legal process: about 700 tapes plus thousands of books, scores and letters.