In his will, Bayley's maternal grandfather, after special bequests to his wife and several others, had left half of his residuary estate to his son Isaac, and the remaining half to be divided equally among his five Bayley grandchildren, according to a second codicil of August 16, 1842. In a third codicil dated March 8, 1844, six days after Bayley's ordination, Roosevelt stated that "as I deem it neither just nor right that any part of the property should be instrumental in building up a faith which I think erroneous and unholy," he disinherited his grandson, bequeathing his one-tenth share of the estate to the Union Theological Seminary instead. This inheritance amounted to about $70,000 (). After his grandfather died on February 6, 1847, Bayley contested the will in court, alleging that the codicil referred to a part of the will which had already been revoked when the codicil was executed, and the codicil was therefore inoperative. The Superior Court decided partially in Bayley's favor in September 1849, awarding him $32,000. However, this decision was reversed by the Court of Appeals, depriving Bayley of his entire inheritance.