Mickey Rooney's widow to contest will leaving $18,000 estate to stepson

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/may/12/mickey-rooney-widow-contest-will-stepson

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Mickey Rooney's widow is to contest a will which left the Hollywood legend's estate to his stepson, according to the Telegraph.

Rooney, who died last month at the age of 93, signed his last will a few weeks before his death. He left his entire estate – just $18,000 (£10,700) – to his stepson Mark Rooney, who had been his carer for some time, blaming elder abuse and financial mismanagement by another stepson for the relatively meagre legacy. Rooney's estranged wife Jan and his eight surviving children were all disinherited.

Now Jan Rooney, who is already due to receive her husband's social security benefits and some of his pension earnings under a previous agreement, has filed a suit at the Los Angeles probate court contesting the will. Rooney's last testament is said to have cited an agreement between the two that she would receive nothing despite having been married to the star for 34 years prior to separation in June 2012. But Jan Rooney's lawyer, Eugene Belous, told CNN that the will contained "a blatant misstatement" regarding agreements between husband and wife. "There is no provision ... that terminates or in any way affects [her] rights as surviving spouse," he said.

Rooney's lawyer, Michael Augustine, said last month that the actor felt it appropriate to bequeath Mark Rooney all he had left because his children were in better financial situations than himself. The star of the Andy Hardy films was Hollywood's highest paid actor in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but according to Augustine was not entitled to hefty royalty payments due to the nature of the old studio system.