22.08.2008

Grove will appeal to go ahead

The will of Cora Grove, the late widow of John L. Grove, founder of JLG and Grove crane, is headed back into court.

A panel of three Superior Court judges has ruled that the Grove heirs can present their case. This follows a ruling by a Franklin County Court judge in July 2007 that the heirs had left it too late to contest the will.

According to superior court judge Robert Coville, the statue of limitations does not apply in a case of forgery or fraud. The heirs of Cora Grove alleged forgery, fraud and concealment, and will therefore have their case heard in court.

The lawsuit challenges the validity of changes to a multimillion-dollar will that Grove marked with an "X" on her deathbed on June 3rd, 2005. Chambersburg attorney Martha Walker presented the changes in the will to Grove.
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The seven heirs - Gerald F. Lute, Elaine J. Heiler, Jane A. Thompson, Gail F. Runshaw, Gloria F. Tagnosky, George Heiler and Lori Kramer - claim that Grove had not asked to change her will.

They filed the lawsuit on their own behalf and on the behalf of four Greencastle-area charities whose bequests were cut in half, or by $800,000, in the June will.

In all $1.25 million was cut from the bequests listed in the earlier will, while a $250,000 bequest to the Capitol Theatre was added. The lawsuit alleges that Walker, as a director and member of the theater, had a special interest in having Grove make the bequest.