‘American Pickers’ Frank Fritz’s Will Contested

Frank Fritz was best known to fans for appearing on American Pickers. However, since his tragic death in 2024, the TV personality’s will has become the subject of controversy between Fritz’s father and friends. With the issue set to go to court, both have shared different sides of the story of Fritz’s last years.

Frank Fritz Was Placed In A Guardianship A Few Years Before His Death
For many, Frank is best known for working with Mike Wolfe on the History Channel series, American Pickers. Serving as a co-host, the two traveled throughout the United States, looking at items for resale, all in the hopes of finding lost treasure.

Tragically, however, Frank would pass away on September 30, 2024. He was at the age of 60 at the time of his death.

According to Monsters & Critics, Frank’s father William Fritz has filed a petition concerning his late son’s will. He reportedly seeks to have a jury decide on how Frank’s estate, which could be worth $6 million, is distributed.

According to the publication, a stroke in 2022 saw the American Pickers star placed within a conservatorship and guardianship arrangement. The will was then filed in 2023.

William, however, has claimed that the document was invalid. According to him, Frank’s mental competence has him questioning if the signing of the will has handled correctly.

According to The Des Moines Register, the original emergency guardianship petition read, “Because of his stroke, Mr. Fritz’s decision-making capacity is so impaired that he is unable to care for his own safety. Or to provide for necessities such as food, shelter, clothing or medical care.”

It was also claimed that Frank was “unable to make, communicate or carry out important decisions concerning his own financial affairs.” Frank’s doctor also submitted a litter “indicating he is unable to make decisions for himself.”

William Fritz’s Lawyer Has Questioned The Document
While many of the documents concerning the guardianship are sealed, a public care plan indicated Frank did not have a living will. Within around two years, he was listed as having a will, according to his guardian’s report.

As the publication noted, the claim that Frank “does not have the capacity to execute any legal documents on his own behalf” could be used to dismiss the will. This was pointed out by William Fritz’s lawyer, Cory Gourley. In addition, Gourley also claimed that there were “logistical issues” with the document.

However, Fritz’s friends have reportedly denied these claims. One friend claimed, “He was definitely in his right mind.” They continued, “He was able to make his own decisions, and he made them up until probably the last weeks of his life. But at that point, there were no decisions to be made.” The friend also suggested that the courts accepting the document already suggests its validity.

In addition, the friend also claimed Frank and his father were estranged at the time of his death. It was claimed that William had moved away when Frank was quite young and had little contact with his son. It was noted that William only visited once while recovering from his stroke.

Frank’s Friends & William’s Lawyer Shared Different Stories
However, William’s lawyer claims the father and son had a close relationship. The lawyer instead claimed the guardianship “cut off all access to Frank.”

As Gourley claimed, “Then they simply prevent Bill from having any contact with Frank whatsoever. They don’t tell him where he is, they don’t tell him where they’re taking him, and they don’t even allow them to have phone contact.”

The friend, however, claimed, “Different people have a different idea of what a good relationship is. Frank had a different idea of the relationship that Bill and he had.”

As the issue is planned to go to court, the friend shared, “Let us have his celebration of life. Let us do what he wanted, his wishes. Let the poor man rest. Here we are looking forward to honoring his memory and all of that can’t happen now until this is over with.”

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