Following Richard Eaton's death, and throughout the 1980s, surviving members of his family fought in court for control of the $50 million estate, the bulk of which were his radio holdings and cable system in New Hampshire. The two remaining television stations Eaton held, WMUR-TV and KECC-TV, were sold off to third parties in May and July 1981, respectively. A 1985 "Washington Post" profile detailed the complexities of his continuously revised will, which stipulated that: Suburban Bancorp had to manage the estate; no money could be directly made available until 10 years after his death, taxes were paid, and after his first wife had also died; neither of his sons—including onetime WJMO overseer Pierre Eaton—could be promoted to lead United, deferring instead to executive Gerald Hroblak; and his second wife Elsa Hurtado Eaton was prohibited from demanding a statutory one-third share of the estate, whereupon she and their four daughters would lose everything bequeathed to them. Elsa contested the will, which was overturned by Circuit Court Judge Rosalyn B. Bell on May 4, 1983, the overturning was partly based on a previous revocation of Elsa and Richard Eaton's prenuptial agreement by an attorney, at the time under Richard's retention, who was also a convicted felon for unrelated reasons. That attorney was later convicted of perjury for admitting to forgery on the prenuptial revocation, and attempted extortion towards Elsa and her attorneys.