The acting legend signed the will in December, dividing up his $70 million estate. A lawyer was hired to protect the interest of his two young children.
"The Sopranos” star James Gandolfini spent weeks working with lawyers on his last will and when he arrived at their office to finally sign the document, he "displayed his usual sense of humor and friendly personality," according to a report filed Thursday in Manhattan Surrogate Court.
The report, by a Brooklyn lawyer appointed to protect the interests of Gandolfini's two children after their father died of a massive heart attack in Rome in June, says he is satisfied that the actor knew what he was doing and the will is valid.
"It is my conclusion that this instrument was properly executed by the decendent as he had the capacity and not under duress, coerced or subject to undue influence," the guardian, Anthony Lamberti, said.
Lamberti said he reached that conclusion after spending 17.5 hours interviewing the actor's business manager, Valerie Baugh, his lawyers, Barry Kaplan and Roger Haber, and the two witnesses, Mayra Vilche and Janeth Leon.
He said Baugh told him that the actor met with her alone in a conference room last December 19 where he read and discussed the final document which divided an estate said to be worth as much as $70 million.
"Ms. Baugh indicated that the decedent understood the seriousness of what he was doing but also displayed his usual sense of humor and friendly personality," Lamberti said.
In front of video camera, he signed the will when all the witnesses were in the room.
Haber told Lamberti said Gandolfini had signed a few wills during his lifetime but the last one was done to account for the birth of Gandolfini's daughter, Liliana Ruth, last October.
The will divides the actor's estate among his two sisters, widow and daughter. Gandolfini's son, Michael, 14, does not get any part of that because his father provided for him with a separate trust that is funded by a life insurance policy.
Lamberti said he did not interview his “ward” Michael, who has moved to California with his mother, Marcella Wudarski, Gandolfini's first wife.
He submitted a bill to the court for $7,000 which will be paid by the estate.
Source: Ny Daily News
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