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Actor Mickey Rooney died leaving an estate worth $18,000 and his widow suspects he was murdered for his estate.

Actor Mickey Rooney had a long career ranging from child star to leading man but was not a wealthy man when he passed away. His assets totaled $18,000.

In a strange story, Rooney’s eighth and last wife, Janice Rooney, suspects that her own son, Rooney’s stepson Mark Aber, poisoned the actor.

Janice and other members of the family who agree with her point to two key pieces of evidence. First, Mark Aber had documents concerning how to poison someone and get away with it. Second, a will was drawn up three weeks before Rooney passed away naming Mark and his wife as Rooney’s sole heirs. Janice Rooney believes that Mickey’s signature on the will was forged.

In a lawsuit, Janice Rooney is requesting that her husband’s body be exhumed so it can be tested for poisoning. This was reported by the Daily Mail in “Mickey Rooney’s family at war as his last wife accuses his stepson of faking his will – then KILLING him (and in final indignity, star’s body will be exhumed).”

It is difficult to determine where this story is going to go.

Certainly, this is a case of a family that had a lot of issues and is choosing to use an estate battle as a surrogate instead of fighting over those issues. On the other hand, while it might seem unlikely that Rooney’s stepson would poison him for such a small estate, it is possible that it did happen.

It is almost always best to handle family issues when they come up rather than deal with them as the estate is being administered.

Reference: Daily Mail (Dec. 23, 2015) “Mickey Rooney’s family at war as his last wife accuses his stepson of faking his will – then KILLING him (and in final indignity, star’s body will be exhumed).”

For more information on estate planning, please visit my estate planning website.

Mr. Amoruso concentrates his practice on Elder Law, Comprehensive Estate Planning, Asset Preservation, Estate Administration and Guardianship.