Fan Leaves $1.2 Million to Opera Theatre of St. Louis Sparking a Court Fight Amongst Her Heirs

Wendy Holmes Weil, a longtime fan of the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, left the opera $1.2 million after her death, sparking a court fight amongst her heirs, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Lawyers for the estate and the heirs notified U.S. Bank in October that they were disputing Weil's bequest.

The bank filed suit last month saying that in 2012, Weil named the opera as a beneficiary in a "Transfer on Death" agreement, which is a method of transferring assets after death without going through probate.

The suit says the controversy and expenses are taking a financial toll on the value of the account. Lawyers for the bank and the opera have not commented at this time.

Weil's decision to leave money to the opera was public since 2017, when she was named one of the more than 100 "Crescendo Circle" members who had included the opera in their "estate planning."

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