Billionaire Chace’s Will Was Changed in Final Days of His Life — He Was “Completely Incapacitated”
Monday, April 24, 2023
The addition of the so-called "second" codicil shifted tens of millions to Liz Chace. PHOTO: Promotional
The players are in a high-stakes fight over the control of one of the trusts of the late Rhode Island billionaire Malcolm “Kim” Chace, the man whose family had direct involvement with the establishment of the famed investment fund Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
Just days before Chace died in 2011, two lawyers from a prominent Rhode Island law firm traveled to Florida and executed a “second” codicil to his will — an amendment — that made significant changes worth tens of millions of dollars including impacting the control of millions of dollars of art and increasing the annual payment to Kim Chace’s second wife Liz from $400,000 to $800,000 a year.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTJust one problem, at the time of the lawyers' visit, Kim Chace was hospitalized, and according to family members and attorneys for his son Malcolm Chace, Kim was “completely incapacitated" and non-communicative.
Who exactly were these lawyers representing is one of the lingering questions now playing out in courtrooms in Florida and Rhode Island. And, how did the non-communicative Kim Chace seek these substantial changes to the distribution of his fortune? The "second" codicil substantially benefitted Liz Chace.
This battle over the codicil is just one component of the legal dispute between members of the Chace family. GoLocal was first to report on the different factions and the litigation in April of 2022.
Rhode Island Litigation Expected to Go to Trail This Year
On one side are Kim Chace’s children, their spouses, and grandchildren. Leading the effort is Kim Chace's son Malcolm Chace, who heads the investment firm Canton Hathaway in Providence. His business partners include Jim Procaccianti, President and CEO of Procaccianti Companies — “a firm that claims more than $10 Billion of diversified real estate investments in more than 130 cities across 31 states coast to coast.”
The Malcolm Chace faction has sued cousin Arnold “Buff” Chace and William Saltonstall [Kim Chace’s stepson and Malcolm Chace’s step-brother] individually as well the trust managing the money — M2K Trust. Liz Chace is also named in the suit.
The plaintiffs in the mega suit in Providence Superior Court— Malcolm Chace's group — allege that Buff Chace and Saltonstall violated the tenet of the trust by investing funds into Buff Chace’s real estate projects — they claim that this was specifically barred by the terms of the trust. The Rhode Island litigation is expected to start in 2023.
Legal Battle Over "Second" Codicil in Court in Florida
The dispute over the change to the will pits Malcolm Chace’s faction primarily against his stepmother Liz Chace. She married Kim Chace on February 8 of 1975, according to a wedding announcement in the New York Times.
Lawyers for Malcolm Chase’s group, both in Rhode Island and in Florida, say the will was changed days after he was incapacitated after surgery and was left non-communicative.
A first codicil of the will was executed in 1990, which provided for Liz Chace to receive an annual payment of $400,000 from the trust upon Kim Chace’s death, and provided for an art collection worth tens of millions to remain with Liz Chace during her lifetime and then revert back to Kim Chace’s children — the Malcom Chace group.
But the so-called second codicil changed key provisions. It doubled her annual payments from $400,000 to $800,000 annually and changed the provisions regarding the art collection — to Liz Chace's benefit.
“During my wife's lifetime if she survives me, the trustee shall pay to my wife from the net income of such trust the sum of Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars ($800,000) annually provided, however, that (i) to the extent such income is insufficient to make such payment, the trustee shall use principal for such purpose, and (ii) such amount shall be prorated in the year of my death,” states the second codicil.
The changes made in the final days have raised concerns of Malcolm Chace's attorneys.
"It causes tremendous concern that a codicil appeared last minute changing the wishes of Mr. Chace days before his death. There is strong evidence Mr. Chace was completely incapacitated at the time of the alleged codicil. It is impossible for a client to have testamentary capacity to make important choices regarding their estate plan while incapacitated,” said Florida-based Marianne Moran, Attorney for the beneficiaries of the Malcolm G. Chace Declaration of Trust.
Robert Corrente, who is representing Malcolm Chace in the Rhode Island litigation, told GoLocal in a phone interview, "There is additional and related litigation in Florida…there is a relatedness to the whole thing as the changes they made were significant as to what they did and what they affected as it relates to dollars and cents. And the change to the second codicil was executed every very close to [Kim Chace’s] death. There were substantial questions about his medical condition."
Corrente is the former U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island.
Painting Worth Millions
The paintings in question, according to the "second "codicil, are:
"Bow of a Beam Trawler" by Edward Hopper
"Glass of Water" by Eastman Johnson
"Fulton Fish Market'' by George Luks
"Landscape #1" by Charles Sheeler
"Cosmetic Counter" by Wayne Thiebaud
According to the parties, the paintings are worth millions, with the most valuable by Hopper.
That piece of art may be worth as much as $10 million. The record for a Hopper, according to the New York Times, is in excess of $91 million. "He is America’s most celebrated painter of the solitary realities of 20th century life. But Tuesday night at Christie’s, Edward Hopper joined the unreality of today’s art market when his 1929 painting 'Chop Suey' sold for $91.9 million, with fees, an auction high for the artist."
Signed While Noncommunicative
The two lawyers who executed the second codicil were prominent attorneys at Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP — Robert Petix, Jr. and Doris Licht.
Licht is a partner with the firm and refused to answer questions about her role in the execution of the second codicil.
She also refused to say who her client was.
“You know I am not going to be able to say anything,” said Licht in an interview with GoLocal.
Petix, who signed the second codicil on behalf of Kim Chace while he was allegedly incapacitated. is no longer with Hinckley Allen and is no longer a practicing attorney.
GoLocal reached Petix in his new home Austin, Texas, and he said he was unaware of the lawsuit and the disputes.
Petix, when reached by phone, said that he had to check with legal counsel at his former firm Hinckley Allen before he could comment.
Petix and Licht’s roles are now the subject of legal action in Florida. And according to court documents, Malcolm Chace’s Florida attorney Moran will have the opportunity to depose both Licht and Petix.
A spokesperson for Liz Chace, Bill Fischer, told GoLocal in an email, “The two Hinckley Allen attorneys you reference served as Kim’s estate planning attorneys. The second codicil was made at Kim’s request. I cannot speak to the motivation of this codicil nor do I represent Hinckley Allen in this matter. All I can tell you is this codicil did not originate as a request from Liz.”
When GoLocal informed Fischer that Malcolm Chace's family and attorneys told GoLocal that at the time of the execution of the second codicil, he was reportedly incapacitated and uncommunicative, thus how did he request this change -- Fischer declined to comment.
