The Scandalous Tale of the Stolen Will
A Seattle attorney dismisses rumors of a purloined inheritance as a malicious shakedown attempt by a disgruntled servant.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Charles F. Hanlon, attorney for the De La Mater estate, says there is no truth in the story circulated here this morning that the will left by Mr. De La Mater, leaving his estate to his wife and child, had been stolen, and that a prior will in which his wife and child were not a party had been probated. Hanlon says De La Mater's man-servant, who is responsible for the stolen will story, was present when the will was filed for probate and could then have made a statement regarding it. The man-servant had tried to blackmail Mr. McGivney, one of the executors, saying he knew of another will which had been stolen and offering, for pay, to say anything about it.
“The man-servant had tried to blackmail Mr. McGivney... saying he knew of another will which had been stolen and offering, for pay, to say anything about it.”
Estate disputes and 'leaked' rumors regarding family wealth have been a staple of Seattle legal drama for over a century. The tension between wealthy heirs and those who claim to know their secrets remains a recurring theme in local civil litigation.
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