Parke's will was proven on 15 May 1711, leaving all of his properties in the four Leeward islands to Lucy Chester, should she survive to her majority and take his surname, using his coat of arms. He bequeathed to his legitimate daughters, Frances Custis and Lucy Byrd all of his estates in Virginia and England, which were to pass to their children, provided that they also continue to use his surname. If Chester did not survive, or refused to take his name, her share of Parke's estate would pass to her mother. Under the terms of the will, Frances Parke was the primary beneficiary and was ordered to pay the substantial debts Parke had acquired during his lifetime. Frances Parke had married
John Custis, and to meet the terms of the will, the couple sought legislative action in 1712 to break the
entail, so that they could sell part of the estate to pay her father's debts. Frances Parke died of smallpox on 14 March 1715, leaving as her heirs, Frances Parke Custis and
Daniel Parke Custis, first husband of
Martha Washington. Lucy Parke married
William Byrd II, who agreed to take on the debts of Parke's estate in exchange for the land and slaves left to Frances Parke. Lucy Parke Byrd died from smallpox on 18 December 1716, leaving as her only heir, Wilhelmina Byrd, who married Thomas Chamberlayne. Lucy Chester Dunbar Parke obtained possession of the Leeward Island properties and Gambles Plantation in 1723. Upon taking possession, Dunbar Parke applied to John Custis to pay the debts in the Leeward Islands out of the Virginia and England estates. Custis refused and the Dunbar Parkes filed a bill in the Virginia Court of Chancery. Custis again refused to pay insisting that the only two legitimate children of Parke were his deceased wife and deceased sister-in-law and that the intent of Daniel Parke was surely that the legitimate heirs pay only the debts in Virginia and England. Thomas Dunbar Parke died in 1734 and thereafter, the case was pursued by his executors, which included Charles Dunbar. Suits and countersuits were followed by appeals and counter appeals, which were lodged for almost three decades. In 1754, the Chancery Court dismissed the Dunbar Parke claim and the decision was appealed to the
Privy Council. In 1757, the Privy Council reversed the Virginia decision, causing Martha Custis' attorneys to advise her to appoint a legal guardian to represent her children in the lawsuit to protect their interests. As she had become a common-law guardian upon the death of Daniel Parke Custis, her attorneys recommended that she needed a formal guardian.
George Washington, whom Custis married in 1759, did not take over as the children's guardian on behalf of his wife until after the settlement of the case concluded in 1761. ==Death and legacy==