J. DON BROCKFive adopted children of the late Astec Industries CEO J. Don Brock are contesting their father's estate in a lawsuit, claiming their stepmother unfairly axed them from a will drawn up in October 2013.
Melissa Sue Brock Adcock; Krystal Gail Brock Parker; Jennifer Rebecca Brock; Daryl William Brock and Walter Edward Brock "were unaware of being disinherited until after their father's death," according to a lawsuit filed in Hamilton County Chancery Court.
Their copies were shipped in the mail, the suit says, but one sibling had to inform Walter Brock since his notice never arrived.
The siblings' lawsuit lists three contested grounds. One is the authenticity of their father's signature, which "only appears on the last page of the will."
For proof, the suit pointed to the signatures of the witnesses as Brock signed his will: "They were officers or employees of Astec Industries, and had a financial interest in the company."
Brock, who died March 10, 2015, from the mesothelioma cancer he battled for nearly three years, was Scenic City's engineer magnate, famous for launching the billion-dollar Astec Industries in 1972.
According to the lawsuit, Brock and his first wife, Lynne Williams Brock, adopted the five children in 1983. After 31 years of marriage, Brock filed for divorce in 1996.
Two years later, after winning custody of four of the five children now contesting his estate, Brock married Sammye Brock, his receptionist since 1974. During divorce proceedings, speculation swirled about "a long marital affair" between Brock and Sammye Brock, whom the lawsuit described as his "mistress."
The lawsuit cast a skeptical eye toward Sammye M. Brock, who "signed [Brock's] name for decades in her capacity as his receptionist/assistant and then as his wife."
The five children alleged that, during the will process, Sammye Brock exerted "undue influence" over her husband by conspiring with his two other adopted children, Elizabeth and Benjamin Brock; her two children from a previous marriage, Devin and Christie Sprouse; and W. Norman Smith, a listed executor of the estate. According to the lawsuit, those four children were included in the 2013 will.
The scheme worked, the lawsuit says, because Brock's mental and physical capacity was compromised from the intense cancer treatment he underwent.
And as a result, the five children were booted from their inheritances in the name of "preserving the assets and reputation of Astec Industries," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit is being transferred to Circuit Court, according to clerk aides.
Jerry Summers, who is representing the five siblings, declined to comment. He requested a jury trial, the suit states, but it may take several months before anyone hears the case.
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson @timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow @zackpeterson918.