We did some fact checks before posting this exclusive report by Life & Style magazine regarding a legal dispute over Jennifer's late mother's, former model/actress Nancy Dow's, will. According to Life & Style magazine things are quote - "getting ugly!" Dow's certificate of death shows she reportedly died May 25, 2016. However, there's only recently been a disagreement regarding Nancy's will. Apparently Life & Style magazine has obtained exclusive legal court documents that reveal Jennifer's maternal half-brother John, is now taking his own daughter, Eilish Melick, Jennifer's niece, to court over her grandmother's will.
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| John T. Mellick, Nancy's son and listed beneficiary of her Trust |
Here's the breakdown regarding Nancy's will: Documents obtained from the Superior Court of the Sate of California County of Los Angeles, Central District show that the Nancy E. Aniston revocable trust originally dated October 9, 2003, as restated was signed by her son John T. Mellick as the Contestant, and her granddaughter Eilish K. Mellick as the Trustee and Respondent. In Nancy's original will it stated the following: "Beneficiaries of the Trust were listed under the 2011 Restated Trust (Exhibit D), which Petitioner contends is the sole, operative document, the Trust beneficiaries are as follows: $100,000 was to be inherited by Nancy's son John T. Mellick; $100,000 was to be inherited by her grandson John T. Mellick, Jr. who was listed as a minor under the petitioner (in this case his father John); $25,000 was to be distributed to Nancy's favorite charity, The Christian Community; and residue and remainder in Trust to Nancy's granddaughter Eilish K. Mellick until she reaches the age of 21.
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| Eilish K. Mellick, Nancy's granddaughter and listed beneficiary of her Trust |
Nancy's daughter Jennifer was not listed on the petition, but mentioned and stated as the following: "Not an interested party to this matter", which would explain her non involvement in this legal dispute. In 2015 a second draft of Nancy's will was made unbeknownst to John thus drastically changing the distribution of his late mother's Trust. The will now states that under the Contested 2015 Amendment (Exhibit C), the distribution of assets were changed to the following: Nancy's son, John T. Mellick has effectively been eliminated from the will thereby disinheriting him from the $100,000; Nancy's grandson John Melick, Jr.'s inheritance is now reduced from the original amount of $100,000 to $40,000; Nancy's favorite charity The Christian Community is also effectively eliminated thereby disinheriting them from $25,000; and Nancy's granddaughter Eilish K. Mellick, listed as the rest, residue and remainder to inherit until she reaches 21-years of age did not change.
Frustrated by this, John, listed as the Petitioner, sought out a Court order invalidating a July 8, 2015 Amendment to the Trust (Exhibit C; "Contested 2015 Amendment") on the grounds that the Settler (Nancy) lacked the "legal capacity" to execute it having suffered from a series of "debilitating strokes" beginning in 2012. Further, the vulnerable, dependent Settler was subjected to under the influence in the procurement of the Contested 2015 Amendment by the Respondent - the Settler's favorite granddaughter, the now 20-year old Eilish K. Mellick. However, that same document also shows that Nancy restated her Trust in its entirety on December 14, 2011 ("Restated Trust"; Exhibit D). Under that 2011 Restated Trust, Nancy's son petitioner John T. Mellick is the named first successor trustee. After that, Nancy made no further, purported changes to her Trust until she challenged the July 8, 2015 Amendment (the "Contested 2015 Amendment"; Exhibit C).
However, when Nancy passed away May 25, 2016, this rendered any previous changes in her Trust irrevocable. As a result of her death her son John, should be now the sole acting successor trustee - not Eilish her granddaughter. In fact, soon after Nancy's died, John handled all of the arrangements for his mother's remains and began the process of sorting through Nancy's documents to administer the Trust in accordance with the terms of the Restated Trust. However, due to the re-issued will, the Contested 2015 Amendment names the Settler's (in this case Nancy being the settler), granddaughter Eilish as the successor trustee - not Nancy's son John, instead despite Eilish being the only 18-years of age at the time the changes to the document were made. The 2015 Amendment is skewed drastically in Eilish's favor, while completely disinheriting both Nancy's son John as well as her favorite charity The Christian Community.
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