Attorneys for the estate of tech mogul Tony Hsieh are intensifying their investigation into the will of the former Zappos executive, which unexpectedly emerged over four years after his death.
On Wednesday, Las Vegas lawyer Dara Goldsmith filed court documents seeking records and surveillance footage related to how Hsieh’s will was submitted to the court.
District Judge Gloria Sturman approved the request on Thursday.
Goldsmith is specifically requesting information about who filed Hsieh’s will, details about the payment of the filing fee, the identity of court employees who handled the document, and any accompanying envelopes or correspondence that might have been submitted with the will.
Additionally, the attorney is pursuing any available video surveillance footage from the Regional Justice Center, particularly from the cashier station where the filing fee receipt was recorded.
According to Goldsmith, her client Richard Hsieh, managing his son’s estate, is conducting “due diligence” following the surprising appearance of the will, and this request for information is a part of their broader investigation.
Sturman has scheduled a hearing related to the probate case on June 5.
Complications surrounding Hsieh’s estate continue to evolve as questions arise around the circumstances of the will’s discovery.
Tony Hsieh, a prominent figure in the revival of downtown Las Vegas, died on November 27, 2020, at the age of 46 due to injuries sustained in a house fire in Connecticut.
He was unmarried at the time of his death and reportedly left behind a substantial fortune.
Despite claims that he passed without a will, a document surfaced last month under unusual circumstances.
This will, a seven-page testament dated March 13, 2015, was introduced by law firms that are not part of the Hsieh family’s legal representation.
According to accompanying documents, the will was discovered in the late February personal belongings of Pir Muhammad, a deceased individual who reportedly had Alzheimer’s disease and was unaware of Hsieh’s passing.
Details regarding Pir Muhammad, such as his address or connection to Hsieh, were absent from the filing, leaving many puzzled.
People familiar with Hsieh have claimed they were unaware of Muhammad, and legal professionals specializing in probate have expressed confusion regarding the unusual structure and language of Hsieh’s will.
The letter that detailed the discovery of the will was authored by a person named Kashif Singh, whose connection to Muhammad is not elucidated, and no contact information or background details have surfaced.
Court records indicate that Singh initially filed the will with the District Court prior to the law firms McDonald Carano and Greenberg Traurig submitting it alongside the letter on April 17.
Significantly, the filing process shows that a clerk recorded the document as “Received” on March 5, but it was not officially stamped as “Filed” until April 2, prompting Goldsmith’s inquiry into this nearly month-long delay.
In conjunction with the records request, Goldsmith’s firm has issued subpoenas to landlords of Las Vegas apartment complexes connected to witnesses who signed the will.
Furthermore, Holland & Knight, the law firm representing Hsieh’s father, has served subpoenas on McDonald Carano and Greenberg Traurig, in part to gather evidence related to the executors named in Hsieh’s will.
While the efforts of the legal teams are becoming increasingly elaborate, the community watching this saga continues to raise questions about the legitimacy and circumstances surrounding Tony Hsieh’s last will and testament.
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