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Gallery 04

Forged and faked wills

Greed. The law it tested: proving that a will is real.

37 storiesGreedProving that a will is real
Les Gens de Justice: M. L'Avocat a rendu pleine Justice...title QS:P1476,en:"Les Gens de Justice: M. L'Avocat a rendu pl, painting by Honoré Daumier
Les Gens de Justice: M. L'Avocat a rendu pleine Justice...title QS:P1476,en:"Les Gens de Justice: M. L'Avocat a rendu pl. Honoré Daumier, 1846date QS:P571,+1846-00-00T0. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

What did these cases decide about proving that a will is real?

A creditor can claim against a dead person's trust with forged loan papers, and the trustee has to go to court to stop the foreclosure sale. Intestacy with 11 children and offshore companies invited fraud; a will with an independent trustee would have closed the gap. Without a valid will, intestacy rules choose the heirs, and a disputed domicile can let 2 states claim death taxes on the same estate.

Stories
37
Years
350 BCE to 2025
Main subjects
Literature and art, Music and sport, Hollywood and TV
Main regions
North America, Europe, East Asia
Updated
30 October 2026

Every case in this gallery, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

Jack Kerouac: Kerouac by Palumbo 2 (cropped)1969 · St. Petersburg, FloridaA Florida judge ruled that the will giving Jack Kerouac's estate to his widow's family was forged, and the ruling changed nothingKerouac left his estate to his mother, Gabrielle. She died in 1973. A will dated 1973 in her name left everything to Stella Sampas Kerouac, Jack's third wife.nbcmiami.com and 3 moreLisa Marie Presley: Lisa Marie Presley (cropped)2023 · Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, USALisa Marie Presley's trust was told it owed $3.8 million on Graceland, and the Missouri woman who forged the loan got 57 months in prisonLisa Marie Presley died on 12 January 2023. Graceland, which she owned, was held in her trust, and her daughter Riley Keough became sole trustee that year.justice.gov and 5 moreBob Marley: Bob Marley circa 1976 (cropped)1981 · Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, MiamiBob Marley died without a will, and his widow forged his signature to move his companies into her nameBob Marley died of cancer at 36. He left no will, a wife, Rita, and 11 children by several women. Under Jamaican intestacy law Rita received 10 percent outright and a life interest in 45 percent; the 11 children shared the rest.FindLaw Caselaw and 3 moreHoward Hughes: Howard Hughes 19381976 · On a flight to Houston, Texas, USAHoward Hughes left no valid will, a jury found the Mormon will naming Melvin Dummar a forgery, and Texas and California fought over his death taxesHoward Hughes, the aviator, film producer and owner of Las Vegas casinos, died on 5 April 1976 aboard a plane from Acapulco to Houston. He was 70.Cornell Law School, LII and 11 moreHedy Lamarr: Hedy Lamarr publicity photo for the film The Heavenly Body, 19442000 · Casselberry, FloridaHedy Lamarr's adopted son sued in Florida in 2000 over a will that left him nothing from her $3.3 million estateHedy Lamarr died aged 85 at her home in Seminole County, Florida.UPI and 3 moreLeonard Cohen: Leonard Cohen, 1988 012016 · Los Angeles, CaliforniaLeonard Cohen's manager emptied his retirement fund, and after his death his children found a forged page in his trustKelley Lynch was Leonard Cohen's manager for almost 17 years, from 1988. While he lived at a Zen monastery, his retirement savings of more than $5 million fell to about $150,000.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca and 5 moreDoris Day: DorisDay-midnightlace-full2019 · Carmel Valley, CaliforniaDoris Day's husband died in 1968 and she learned her lawyer and her husband had lost her earnings; a court awarded the couple $26,396,511Martin Melcher, Doris Day's third husband and business manager, died on 20 April 1968. Day then found that her money was gone.FindLaw Caselaw and 3 moreZsa Zsa Gabor: Zsa Zsa Gabor - 19592016 · Los Angeles, CaliforniaZsa Zsa Gabor's husband ran her estate as conservator and moved most of her ashes to BudapestZsa Zsa Gabor married nine times. Her last husband, Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, married her in 1986 and became conservator of her estate.tmz.com and 3 moreFred Trump Jr.: Fred Trump Jr. 1966 (cropped)1999 · New Hyde Park, New York, USAFred Trump's grandchildren contested his will in 2000, and Donald Trump and 2 siblings cut off health insurance for them and an ailing babyFred Trump, the father of Donald Trump, died at Long Island Jewish Medical Center on 25 June 1999, aged 93. On 23 March 2000 his grandchildren Mary L.gibsondunn.com and 4 moreC. S. Lewis: CS Lewis photo on dust jacket1963 · Oxford, EnglandA Lewis scholar says he saved C. S. Lewis's papers from a bonfire; a critic charged in 1988 that the story and an unfinished novel were a hoaxAfter C. S. Lewis died in 1963, his brother Warren Lewis held his papers.christianitytoday.com and 2 moreNina Simone: Portrait of the American singer Nina Simone, 1965.2003 · Carry-le-Rouet, FranceNina Simone left most of her estate to a trust for African children; the California Attorney General said her daughter diverted it, and the daughter resigned and gave up the rightsNina Simone died at her home in the south of France at 70. Her will left her only child, Lisa Simone Kelly, a Los Angeles condominium.oag.ca.gov and 5 moreMartha Raye: Martha Raye 1951 press photo1994 · Los Angeles, CaliforniaMartha Raye married a man 33 years younger and left him her $2 million estate, after her daughter sued for conservatorshipMartha Raye died of pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai on 19 October 1994, aged 78. She had had Alzheimer's disease, a 1990 stroke and liver disease. Her left leg was amputated in October 1993 and her right in February 1994.americanhistory.si.edu and 3 moreEdgar Allan Poe: Edgar Allan Poe, circa 1849, restored, squared off1849 · Baltimore, MarylandEdgar Allan Poe's self-appointed literary executor was his enemy, who wrote his obituary under a false name and rewrote his lettersPoe and the editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold had feuded for years. Two days after Poe died, Griswold published an obituary under the pen name "Ludwig" in the New York Tribune. It attacked Poe's character.bpl.org and 3 moreAndrew Carnegie: Andrew Carnegie, by Theodore Marceau (cropped) (2)1907 · Ohio State Penitentiary, ColumbusCassie Chadwick said she was Andrew Carnegie's illegitimate daughter, borrowed against forged Carnegie notes, and broke an Ohio bankElizabeth Bigley was born in Ontario in 1857. In 1889 she was convicted of forgery in Toledo and sentenced to nine and a half years. She was paroled in 1893.case.edu and 3 moreAI illustration: A typed will with a forged signature on a doctor's desk in Hyde, 19981998 · Hyde, Greater ManchesterA forged will leaving £386,000 to Dr Harold Shipman exposed Britain's worst serial killerKathleen Grundy, 81, a former mayoress of Hyde, died at home. Her GP, Dr Harold Shipman, signed the death certificate and gave "old age" as the cause.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk and 3 moreSunjay Kapur2025 · England, UKSunjay Kapur died at a polo match, and his children say the will leaving his Rs 30,000 crore estate to his widow is forgedSunjay Kapur, chairman of auto-parts maker Sona Comstar, collapsed and died during a polo match in England on 12 June 2025. A will dated 21 March 2025 leaves almost his entire personal estate to his third wife, Priya Sachdev Kapur.wionews.com and 4 moreThe Shooting of Judge Terry - National Police Gazette 1889-08-31: The Shooting of Judge Terry. Scenes in and about the Lathrop, Cal., depot where Marshal Nagle killed the famous hu1885 · San Francisco, California, USASarah Althea Hill produced a marriage contract and a will from San Francisco's richest man, federal judges ruled them forged, and her husband was shot dead attacking a Supreme Court justiceWilliam Sharon was a US senator and the richest man in San Francisco. He owned the Palace Hotel and the Grand Hotel. In 1880 he began an affair with Sarah Althea Hill, paid her $500 a month and gave her a room at the Grand.Cornell Law School, LII and 2 morePierre Bonnard: Tête de Bonnard (Portrait photograph of Pierre Bonnard), c.1899, Musée d'Orsay, restaurée1947 · Le Cannet, FrancePierre Bonnard's wife had four unknown nieces; a French court ruled in 1951 that he forged her will, and the family won on appealPierre Bonnard's wife Marthe, who died in January 1942, had told him for decades that she had no family.lejournaldesarts.fr and 4 moreRice University - William Marsh Rice statue1900 · New York CityA lawyer and a valet killed William Marsh Rice in 1900 to take the fortune he left to found Rice InstituteRice made his money in Texas land, cotton, lumber and railroads. The 1860 census valued his property at $750,000 and ranked him the richest man in Houston. From 1882 his wills directed most of his estate to an institute in Houston.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov and 2 moreCambodge-1223: Les vestiges du Prasat Krachap, un des temples du site de Koh Ker - Cambodge2020 · Bangkok, Thailand; Koh Ker, Cambodia; New York, USAA Bangkok dealer died under US indictment for selling looted Khmer statues, and his daughter gave the 125 pieces she inherited back to CambodiaDouglas Latchford lived in Bangkok and was for decades a leading supplier of Cambodian sculpture to Western museums and collectors. He published books on Khmer art and was feted by Cambodian officials.ice.gov and 4 moreAlberto Giacometti: Title [Giacometti] PK-F-A.06801 Creator/other Andriesse, Emmy (1914-1953) Shelfmark PK-F-A.06801 Subject (topical) PortraitsMen (male humans)ArtistsSculptors Su1966 · Chur, SwitzerlandA forger sold about 1,300 fake Giacometti sculptures over ten years, German police seized more than 1,150 suspect works in 2009, and a Stuttgart court gave dealers two-year suspended sentencesAlberto Giacometti died in 1966 without children. His widow Annette set up the Giacometti Association in 1986 as a placeholder until the foundation named in his will could exist. She died in 1993.The Art Newspaper and 3 morePedro Infante: Pedro Infante en 1954 (cropped)1957 · Mérida, Yucatán, MexicoMexico's Supreme Court annulled Pedro Infante's second marriage six days before he died in a plane crashPedro Infante married María Luisa León on 19 June 1939, in a civil ceremony and then in Mexico City's cathedral. She had paid his early way by selling jewelry and spending her savings.infobae.com and 2 moreIvar Kreuger: Kreuger ca19201932 · ParisIvar Kreuger shot himself in Paris in 1932, and auditors found his match empire rested on forged Italian bondsIvar Kreuger, born in Kalmar in 1880, controlled most of the world's match production through Svenska Tändsticks AB and his holding company, Kreuger & Toll.fortune.com and 5 moreAmedeo Modigliani: Amedeo Modigliani in his studio1920 · ParisModigliani died poor, his partner jumped from a window the next day, and Italian police later closed a Modigliani show for fakesAmedeo Modigliani died of tubercular meningitis at 35. The next day his pregnant partner, Jeanne Hébuterne, jumped from her parents' apartment window. Their infant daughter was raised by Modigliani's family in Italy.itsartlaw.org and 4 moreAuguste Rodin: Auguste Rodin by George Charles Beresford (NPG x6573)1917 · Meudon, FranceRodin gave all his works and reproduction rights to France in 1916, and the Musee Rodin spent 18 years in court over about 1,700 casts it called fakesIn 1916, the year before his death, Auguste Rodin gave the French state all his plaster, marble, bronze and stone works, his drawings, his antiquities and his intellectual property rights.musee-rodin.fr and 3 moreBadri Patarkatsishvili: Badri Patarkatsishvili IMEDI2008 · Downside Manor, Leatherhead, Surrey, UK; Tbilisi, GeorgiaBadri Patarkatsishvili died in Surrey worth over $1 billion, a relative produced a copy of a will naming himself executor, and the widow called it a forgery in courts in five jurisdictionsBadri Patarkatsishvili founded Imedi TV in 2003. Riot police raided it in November 2007, and control passed to allies of President Mikheil Saakashvili. Living in exile, he came third in the January 2008 presidential election.kommersant.ru and 11 morePalace of Versailles: Versailles Palace (FRA) – Equestrian Olympic Venue1793 · Palace of Versailles, Yvelines, France; Tribunal correctionnThe Revolution auctioned Versailles's furniture in 17,000 lots, and a top expert was convicted in 2025 of forging royal chairs for the buy-back marketAfter the monarchy fell, the Convention ordered the royal contents of Versailles sold. The auction ran from 25 August 1793 to 11 August 1794 in about 17,000 lots, down to mirrors and baths.The Art Newspaper and 6 moreFrederick Berkeley, 5th Earl of Berkeley: A-noble-commander-from-South-Gloucester-taken-on-the-Steyne-at-Brighton1810 · EnglandThe Earl of Berkeley's eldest son was ruled illegitimate in 1811 after the church register entry for a secret 1785 marriage proved forgedFrederick Augustus, 5th Earl of Berkeley, lived with Mary Cole, daughter of a publican and butcher. They had seven sons and five daughters.Internet Archive and 3 moreJames Addison Reavis in prison clothes: James Addison Reavis with imprisoned at Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory1874 · Phoenix, Arizona, USAJames Addison Reavis forged a Spanish barony covering 12 million acres of Arizona, presented a ranch girl as its heiress, and went to prisonGeorge M. Willing, a prospector, said he had bought a Spanish land grant from a man named Miguel Peralta. In 1874 Willing was found dead the morning after he went to Prescott to file it.arizonahighways.com and 2 moreHK Nina Tower 200803: Nina Tower，Hong Kong2007 · Hong Kong, ChinaNina Wang won her kidnapped husband's estate in Hong Kong's top court in 2005, then her feng shui adviser was jailed for forging her willNina and Teddy Wang, married in 1955, built the Chinachem property group. On 10 April 1990 Teddy was kidnapped. He was never found, though US$30 million of a US$60 million ransom was paid. A court declared him dead in 1999.legalref.judiciary.hk and 8 moreAI illustration: The Constitutional Court of South Africa in Johannesburg2021 · Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaThe Zulu king's widow challenged his will as forged, and his successor's recognition went to South Africa's highest courtKing Goodwill Zwelithini ruled the Zulu nation for 50 years, had six wives and was sole trustee of the Ingonyama Trust, which holds about 2.8 million hectares of KwaZulu-Natal. He died on 12 March 2021.mg.co.za and 2 moreOlivia Serres: Engraving of Olivia Serres1834 · LondonA house painter's daughter claimed to be a royal princess, and a jury ruled her proofs forged in 1866 without hearing the Crown's full replyOlivia Wilmot was born in Warwick on 3 April 1772, the daughter of a house painter. She married the marine painter John Thomas Serres in 1791 and separated from him in 1804.Wikisource (primary text) and 2 moreBronzePlaque-EdictOfSecondEmperor-Qin-ROM-May8-08: Small bronze plaque containing an edict from the second emperor of the Qin dynasty. 209 BC. Cat # 931.13.195 Bishop C. White Coll210 BCE · Shaqiu (Guangzong, Hebei), ChinaThe Shiji says the First Emperor's chancellor and his seal-keeper forged his last letter, and his eldest son killed himself on the forged orderThe Shiji, completed by Sima Qian about a century later, gives this account. The First Emperor had more than 20 sons. His eldest, Fusu, had criticised him and was sent north to the army of the general Meng Tian.zh.wikisource.org and 4 moreMatilda of Tuscany: Mathilde und Hugo von Cluny als Fürsprecher Heinrichs IV. (cropped)1115 · Canossa, Italy, and RomeMatilda of Tuscany gave her lands to the papacy, a historian says the surviving deed is a forgery, and the emperor took the lands the year after she diedMatilda, countess of Tuscany, held most of northern and central Italy and backed the popes against the emperor. In 1079 she gave all her domains to the pope.Treccani and 3 moreAGMA Kleroterion: Kleroterion. This device was used for the jury selection system in Athens. Bronze identification tickets were inserted to indicate eligible jurors who were also d350 BCE · Athens, GreeceClaimants to Hagnias's estate in Athens produced a forged will, lost, and then took the estate by three or four votesTwo courtroom speeches tell this fight: Isaeus 11, On the Estate of Hagnias, and the speech Against Macartatus preserved among the works of Demosthenes.cts.perseids.org and 2 moreMaharaja Nandakumar, Calcutta: Maharaja Nandakumar, Calcutta1775 · Calcutta (Kolkata), IndiaA Bengali official accused Warren Hastings of bribery, was charged weeks later with forging a dead banker's bond, and was hanged under an English statuteMaharaja Nandakumar had been governor of Hugli and an old rival of Warren Hastings. A banker, named Bulaki Das in later accounts, died in 1769. The banker's executor, Gungabissen, sued Nandakumar for sums owed to the estate.Wikisource (primary text) and 2 morePtolemy VI Philometor: Ring with the engraved portrait of Ptolemy VI Philometor.204 BCE · Alexandria, EgyptCourtiers hid Ptolemy IV's death, killed his queen, read out a will naming themselves regents, and the Alexandrian crowd killed them and their familyPolybius writes that Ptolemy IV Philopator began his reign by killing his brother Magas and then neglected government for "his shameful amours and senseless and constant drunkenness." He married his sister Arsinoe III.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 more