Author-Illustrator's Children At Odds

August 28, 2008
Boston Globe
Associated Press

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. - A court fight over the $2 million estate of famed author and illustrator Tasha Tudor is on hold after her estranged children told a judge they're trying to resolve their differences.

In a Probate Court hearing Wednesday, lawyers for Tudor's survivors were given a 90-day window to address their disagreements.

Tudor, 92, wrote or collaborated on nearly 100 children's books, illustrating such classics as "Little Women" and "The Secret Garden."

She died June 18, leaving the bulk of her estate to son Seth Tudor, 65, of Marlboro, and his son.

An earlier will split the estate between Seth Tudor and younger brother Thomas Tudor, 62, of Fairfax Station, Va., leaving only $1,000 apiece to daughters Bethany Tudor, of Brattleboro, and Efner Tudor Holmes, of Contoocook, N.H.

The daughters, along with Thomas Tudor, are challenging the naming of Seth Tudor as executor of the estate. They say he exerted undue influence over Tudor.

Thomas Tudor, who is associate general counsel for international affairs for the U.S. Air Force, said he didn't know she had cut him out of the will until he read a copy of it.

Mark Schwartz, a lawyer for Thomas Tudor, asked Probate Judge Robert Pu to appoint a mediator if there comes a point when talks bog down, and Pu asked the attorneys to work up a stipulation outlining their agreement.

Richard Coutant, a lawyer for Seth Tudor, said Brattleboro accountant Joseph Pieciak was providing services to the estate, including preparing tax returns.

"A certain amount of informal discovery is going on," Coutant told the judge.