The document Elizabeth Edwards signed Dec. 1, six days before her death, also named her eldest child, lawyer Cate Edwards, as the executor of her estate. In the will, filed in Orange County Superior Court in North Carolina, Edwards left personal effects, furniture, automobiles and other property to be divided among her children — Cate, 12-year-old Emma Claire and 10-year-old Jack.
Other documents valued Elizabeth Edwards’ estate at $496,000 in cash, securities, household furnishings, vehicles and ownership in businesses. She also owned real estate worth an additional $1 million, and she controlled a trust that may hold more assets that do not have to be disclosed in court. A death certificate said she died from the incurable breast cancer that returned in 2007 as John Edwards campaigned for the presidency.
John and Elizabeth Edwards separated early last year after 32 years of marriage. John Edwards admitted he fathered a child during an affair with a former campaign worker. The Edwardses had several tumultuous years leading up to her death, struggling through his admission of the affair and eventual acknowledgment that he’d fathered a child with his mistress in the middle of his 2008 presidential campaign. Elizabeth Edwards said she worked for two years trying to reinvent her role as a spouse before making the difficult decision.
The Edwardses were law school sweethearts who married just days after they took the bar exam together in the summer of 1977. They had four children together, including a son who died at age 16. Although the couple had separated, John Edwards was at her side around the clock as her health deteriorated. He did not speak at her funeral.
