Buzz Aldrin Sues His Children

Buzz Aldrin salutes during the singing of the National Anthem at the Spaceport America runway dedication. (Credit: Douglas Messier)

Buzz Aldrin has sued one of his sons, his daughter and the secretary of his foundation alleging misappropriations of funds and slander.

The lawsuit — filed on June 7 in Brevard County, Florida — alleges that Andrew Aldrin improperly transferred $475,000 from Buzz’s account at Morgan Stanley into his own bank account in 2017 and 2018 without the knowledge of the Apollo 11 astronaut.

The suit also alleges that Andrew Aldrin and Christina Korp, who is secretary of the Buzz Aldrin Space Foundation, have each “made monthly business and personal charges of up to $60,000 under the guise of trustee, power of attorney, and/or employee, and without the Plaintiff’s consent and/or knowledge or against Plaintiff’s expressed wishes authorized payment of such bills through Plaintiff’s personal checking account/funds.”

Buzz Aldrin also alleged that Andrew Aldrin and Korp “have effective established a de facto guardianship over Plaintiff” without a legal basis to have rights to his credit cards, bank accounts, trust money and other property.

“In their acting capacities and individually, Defendant Andrew Aldrin and Defendant Christina Korp, have assumed control and access to Plaintiff’s personal credit cards, bank accounts, trust money, space memorabilia, space artifacts, social media accounts and all elements of the Buzz Aldrin brand,” the suit alleged.

The lawsuits said that Buzz Aldrin invoked a revocable trust agreement appointing his son Andrew as trustee. Andrew also has power of attorney and serves as president of Buzz Aldrin Enterprises, Buzz Aldrin Space Foundation, and the Aldrin Space Institute at the Florida Institute of Technology.

The lawsuit also alleged Andrew Aldrin and Korp “have been for the past number of years been slandering Plaintiff in public and/or to other individuals or small groups by stating Plaintiff has dementia and Alzheimer’s. Defendants have used this tactic to gain further control over Plaintiff’s personal relationships business contacts, and assets.”

The suit also alleged that Andrew Aldrin, Korp and Buzz’s daughter, Janice Aldrin, have forbidden the retired astronaut from marrying and “deliberately have undermined bullied and defamed all of Plaintiff’s personal romantic relationships.”

The lawsuit says that Buzz revoked all powers of attorney and fired Korp from her position. However, Andrew Aldrin ignored the plaintiff’s request and Korp continues to be employed.

The legal action also names as defendants a number of organizations the astronaut established to represent him, including the Buzz Aldrin Enterprises, Buzz Aldrin Space Foundation, the Aldrin Space Institute and others.