Terry Franklin to Present “The 1846 Last Will of John Sutton” to Cincinnati Estate Planning Council

Partner Terry Franklin will present “The 1846 Last Will of John Sutton: What’s New and Not So New in the World of Wills and Contest Litigation” to the Cincinnati Estate Planning Council at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center on April 26, 2018. Mr. Franklin’s talk shares the story of his search to find evidence that would answer the question whether there was love in the relationship between his fourth great-grandfather, John, a white slaveholder in the Antebellum South, and his fourth great-grandmother, Lucy, who was described in John’s 1846 will as his ‘mulatto slave’. The will emancipated Lucy, the eight children and six grandchildren that John and Lucy shared. In this multi-media presentation, Mr. Franklin retraces the path to his discovery of the will, and the unexpected will contest that threatened to keep his family enslaved. Mr. Franklin will also address issues of drafting to anticipate potential problems, the estate planner as witness and how the facts of an estate planning meeting can play out at trial. Learn more.