Siblings fight over estate of mother whose land yielded a T. Rex skeleton

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, July 5, 2024


Siblings fight over estate of mother whose land yielded a T. Rex skeleton
The skeleton, which was found on a ranch in South Dakota in 1990 and later sold for more than $8 million, has been the subject of numerous legal challenges.

by Lola Fadulu and Michael Levenson



NEW YORK, NY.- Darlene Williams died in 2020, more than a dozen years after the $8 million sale of a fossilized skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue that was found on her family’s ranch in South Dakota in 1990.

Now, her children are fighting over who should inherit her money, pointing to conflicting wills that Williams left, including one she signed shortly before her death.

It is the latest legal dispute spawned by Sue, a crown jewel of paleontology regarded as the most complete T. rex fossil ever found. The bones have been at the center of court cases almost from the moment fossil hunters found the 67 million-year-old remnants.

Before her death in 2020, Williams had written two wills.

In a 2017 will, she appointed one of her daughters, Sandra Williams Luther, as the personal representative of her estate. In another will, written in 2020, she designated that same daughter to be her sole heir and the sole executor of her estate.

“Please do not fight amongst you all,” the 2020 will read. “I have lived with my children at odds for too many years.”

But another daughter, Jaqueline Schwartz, has argued in court that the second will is not legitimate and that it is legally flawed.

According to Schwartz’s objection, just days before the 2020 will was dated, her mother was “critically ill” and admitted to a hospital. When Schwartz visited, her mother “would float in and out of consciousness” and “was barely able to speak,” according to court papers.

Schwartz has argued that her mother was “susceptible to undue influence” because of low oxygen levels and severe anemia, which made it difficult for her to communicate, and that only one visitor was allowed at a time in keeping with coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

In February, Schwartz filed another petition, which asked a court for permission to bring claims against Luther and another sibling, Carson Williams, over what Schwartz said was the mismanagement of her mother’s funds.

Less than two weeks before her mother’s death, Darlene Williams appeared to have sold her home, Schwartz’s petition said, but her mother’s signature on the settlement documents did not match others.

The proceeds from the sale of the house, which amounted to around $225,000 as reported by The Associated Press, were intended to go to Darlene Williams, and after she died, to her estate, according to the petition.

Instead, Schwartz has said, they were “converted and misappropriated” by Luther and Carson Williams, who collaborated to enrich themselves after their mother’s death.

Lawyers for the siblings did not respond to multiple requests for comment Friday and Saturday. It is not clear how much each sibling could have gained from their mother’s estate.

The T. rex fossil unearthed on the family ranch was named Sue, after Sue Hendrickson, the woman who discovered it during a commercial excavation trip. It took six people 17 days to extract the skeleton. The dinosaur was estimated to have lived for around 28 years, according to growth rings in the bones.

Its discovery led to a five-year custody dispute that ended in a public auction in 1997, according to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

The museum acquired the bones for $8.36 million in 1990 and now displays the skeleton, which is more than 40 feet long and 13 feet tall. The museum has 250 of approximately 380 of the bones.

The skeleton “is the most celebrated representative of T. rex and arguably the most famous fossil in the world,” the museum’s website reads, adding that it “has enabled scientists all over the world to do more detailed studies of the species’ evolutionary relationships, biology, growth and behavior than ever before.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

December 6, 2023

East Coast Premiere of Sharon Stone's Paintings at C. Parker Gallery

Guggenheim lays off 10 employees as museums face fiscal challenges

A logo to unite America? Good luck.

Amber fossils suggest male mosquitoes were once bloodsuckers

At the Kennedy Center, an ode to the arts, and a gentle jab at Biden's age

'Hockney/Origins' reveals unique perspective on artist's early career

The Royal Scottish Academy presents a new exhibition about William Gillies

New Orleans Museum of Art announces its major exhibitions for 2024

Replica of the original 'Big Brother' container on view at Museum Tinguely

Ward Moretti unveils exhibition of The Pieter and Olga Dreesmann Collection of works by Pablo Picasso

Exhibition showcasing the range of Saul Leiter's career is on view to celebrate 100th anniversary of his birth

After shakeup, Trinity Church appoints its next music leader

'Ahead of her Time: Pioneering Women from the Renaissance to the Twentieth Century' now showing

Five decades of work by Claude Viallat on view at Galerie Templon in Paris

Alicia Keys' 'Hell's Kitchen' to open on Broadway this spring

"zrikha sheqi'att hashemesh" by Joel Mesler at David Kordansky Gallery to end this December 16th

First Klima Biennale Wien to open in April 2024

Artist reception and book signing for 'Keith Carter: Ghostlight' at PDNB Gallery

Robert Precht, producer of 'The Ed Sullivan Show,' dies at 93

Cobi Narita, tireless jazz promoter and benefactor, dies at 97

Siblings fight over estate of mother whose land yielded a T. Rex skeleton

National Gallery acquires work by Dolores "Loló" Soldevilla

The Morgan Library & Museum announces 2024 centennial campaign and programming

Stamping Parts Manufacturer In China

Things You Need to Know Before Proposing to Your Significant Other

Things to know about the Car Wrapping

Slot Tournaments Offer a Social Aspect to Gaming

The world's first gallery in a parking lot relies on young artists

The Intersection of Handcrafted Food and Creative Expression




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful