3 Years in the Making: RI Billionaire v. Millionaire Family Legal Fight Opens on May 20

3 Years in the Making: RI Billionaire v. Millionaire Family Legal Fight Opens on May 20

The legal battle between two factions of one of Rhode Island’s most prominent and wealthy families now has a date for the legal fight to begin in Providence Superior Court.

The high-profile litigation pits one faction of the Chace family, led by Malcolm Chace, his sister, and his children, against his cousin Arnold “Buff” Chace.

Malcolm Chace is the son of one of Rhode Island’s wealthiest business titans, Malcolm "Kim" Chace.

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At the time of Kim Chace's death, he was one of the richest men in America and the richest in Rhode Island. He was a regular on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires. In 2001, Chace was tied for 490th on the ranking with a net worth of $1 billion — in 2022 dollars that is estimated to be worth $1.7 billion

Chace's family made hundreds of millions from his ownership interest in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

The book "All the Money in the World" cites how Kim Chace acquired much of his wealth.

"Chace Family: Founders of the Berkshire textile mill in Providence, Rhode Island. Their descendants sold to Buffett in the 1960s, but Malcolm G. Chace, the chairman, held onto his shares — making his children very wealthy. His heir, Malcolm “Kim” Chace III, and his family ranked 209 on the Forbes 400 in 2002 with $1 billion in assets,” according to the book.

At the center of the fight is Malcolm Chace's claim that Buff Chace misused funds from a trust fund. Specifically, that Buff Chace illegally used the trust fund to fuel his real estate development firm.

Malcolm Chace's wealth is estimated to be in the billions; Buff Chace's is in the millions. 

But there is much more. There are claims of deathbed changes to the will. Allegation of greed. And much more.

The legal fight has been going on for three years, and now the trial is scheduled to begin on May 20 before Super Court Judge Brian Stern.

The jury was waived. Word is that both sides worried that the case might be decided by their respective personalities rather than a cadre of complex legal issues.

 

What Won’t Be Before the Court in This Suit

What won’t be before the court is the separate legal battle between Malcolm Chace and his former step-mother.

In July of 2023, lawyers for Malcolm Chace and the other members of his family filed a lawsuit in Providence Superior Court claiming that changes to Kim Chace's will in the final days before his death were improper. 

The six-count lawsuit alleges that lawyers made improper changes to the late billionaire Kim Chace’s will while he was incapacitated.

The changes, known as the “second Codicil,” dramatically enriched Liz Chace by increasing the annual distribution from one of the family's many trusts from $400,000 to $800,000. 

The difference between the two amounts plus the interest totals millions — and may be close to $10 million.

That litigation is moving forward on a separate track.