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On this special episode filmed LIVE on Halloween Eve, Attorney CPA Joe Cordell and Sherry crack open the Lizzie Borden case to ask a different question than who swung the hatchet: what did the probate and estate issues look like, and what can modern families learn from them? We walk through the family dynamics, the size of Andrew Borden’s estate, why the order of death mattered, and how settlements and intestacy worked in the 1890s.

Then, we fast forward to today to explain the Uniform Simultaneous Death statute, Slayer statutes, and how planning choices could change outcomes for blended families. Along the way we talk about wills that never got signed, why “who died first” once triggered double probates, and how even thin forensic evidence can still reshape an estate fight.

Part two is coming soon with the rest of Lizzie’s life and how her own will played out. Happy Halloween!