E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
W.A. Clark Memorial Library
Huguette Clark's estate will now be managed by a public official, not her attorney and accountant. Still to be determined: Which of her documented wills should the court honor?
NEW YORK — Based on "shocking" evidence of tax fraud, a judge on Friday suspended the attorney and accountant for reclusive copper heiress Huguette Clark from handling her $400 million estate.
The judge said there was more than enough evidence that the two men engaged in a tax fraud that allowed the elderly woman to run up an IRS bill of $90 million in unpaid gift taxes, interest and potential penalties.
The decision costs each man about $8 million he would have earned as an executor.
Also Friday, a remaining executor of the estate said he will try to recover at least one of the gifts given from Clark's accounts in recent years, a $5 million check written by Clark's attorney to Clark's registered nurse, Hadassah Peri. Clark's attorney had no authority to make that gift, the executor alleged. The $5 million was part of about $26 million given to the nurse over the past 15 years, even before Clark left more than $30 million to Peri in her will.
In Surrogate's Court in Manhattan, Surrogate Kristin Booth Glen took away the powers of Clark's attorney, Wallace "Wally" Bock, and accountant, Irving Kamsler. The two men remain under criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney for the way they managed her estate. They have not been charged with any crime and have said they acted appropriately.
The judge only suspended the men's privileges in handling her estate, instead of revoking them permanently, because their attorneys said a conflict of interest has arisen, apparently indicating that the two men are starting to tell different stories about the handling of Clark's affairs over the past 15 years. Until that is sorted out, attorney Barry Vasios said, the attorneys couldn't file an answer to the claim of tax fraud.
Even without hearing from the two men, the judge said she couldn't imagine how they could refute the claim that they are "unfit to serve" for wasting money from the estate, violating rules of conduct, dealing dishonestly with authorities and violating their fiduciary duty. She called the allegations shocking and suspended them immediately. If they want back into the case, she said, they can file a petition. And she said the two men may have to pay some of their own attorney fees, instead of having them paid by the estate, if their delay or dishonesty ran up the legal bills.
The estate will now be managed entirely by attorneys for the public administrator, who earlier this week alleged the tax fraud. Details on the allegations are in our earlier story: Tax fraud alleged in estate of heiress Huguette Clark; accountant resigns. Earlier this week, the accountant, Kamsler, told the court through an attorney that he planned to resign as an executor. He had not yet resigned by the time of Friday's hearing, however.
An attorney for the public administrator, Peter Schram, said an expert in legal ethics "could tell you how many ethical considerations and disciplinary rules Mr. Bock has violated. My guess is you'd need two hands and a couple of toes to count them."
Huguette Clark, daughter of William A. Clark, who was a senator from Montana and a copper magnate.
The judge also ruled on a second question, whether to allow Clark's relatives, descendants from her father's first marriage, to become parties to the case during the accounting of the estate. The judge blocked the family from entering the case now, saying that the interests of the estate are being well looked after by the public administrator, who was appointed at first as a third temporary executor to watch over Bock and Kamsler. This ruling will not keep the family from entering the case later. The family's entry was opposed by Clark's nurse, Peri.
Clark, who died in May at age 104, gained public attention in a series of articles on msnbc.com over the past two years, focusing at first on the mystery of her empty mansions and then the financial dealings of her attorney and accountant. The full series of articles is at http://clark.msnbc.com. Born in 1906, Clark was the youngest child of former U.S. Sen. William Andrews Clark (1839-1925), a copper miner and U.S. senator from Montana, said to be one of the richest men in the world. Below are links to the full story.
A dozen lawyers stood before Judge Glen on Friday morning in the courtroom in lower Manhattan, less than a mile from the office where Clark's father managed his mines, railroads and other properties until his death in 1925. Huguette, born in Paris in 1906, was his youngest daughter.
Clark signed two wills, in 2005, at age 98. The first left $5 million to the nurse, and the rest to the relatives. The second, signed just six weeks later, left nothing to the family, more than $30 million to the nurse, about $12 million to a goddaughter, $500,000 each to her attorney and accountant, $1 million to Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, $100,000 to her physician, a Monet painting worth about $25 million to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington. It also set up a charitable foundation to run an art museum at her oceanfront estate in Santa Barbara, Calif., to be controlled by her attorney and accountant. Her apartments on Fifth Avenue in New York City and her country home in Connecticut would presumably be liquidated.
The public administrator alleges that while Clark lived as a recluse in New York City hospital rooms for the last 20 years of her life, attorney Bock and accountant Kamsler:
- Failed to file federal gift tax returns for Clark for the years 1997 through 2003, when she made approximately $56 million in gifts to individuals. The gift tax and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax due would have been about $41.5 million.
- Charged her for filing tax returns that were not filed.
- Paid only $7.5 million in estimated tax payments toward the gift tax in those years.
- Failed to pay the remaining $34 million during the years since, exposing her to millions in IRS interest and penalties for failure to file.
- Failed to tell Clark about the unpaid taxes or possible interest and penalties, even though she had sufficient liquid assets to pay the bill in full.
- Filed false returns with the IRS for the years 2004 through 2009, claiming that previous gift tax returns had been filed, and understating Clark's current tax liabilities by more than $7 million.
- Underreported and underpaid by millions her federal taxes.
- Misrepresented to the IRS that returns had been filed.
- Lied to the IRS, with Kamsler claiming he was unaware of a $5 million gift to Clark's nurse, when documents show he listed that gift on a profit and loss statement seven months earlier.
- Lied to the public administrator, claiming that they were searching for the gift tax returns, until the IRS disclosed that none had been filed.
The new allegations raise the possibility that the men could face federal charges, with the public administrator noting that it is a felony to willfully submit fraudulent tax returns.
The accountant, Kamsler, 64, from the Bronx, N.Y., is a convicted felon and a registered sex offender who pleaded guilty in 2008 to attempting to distribute indecent materials to teenage girls in a chat room on AOL, under the moniker "IRV1040." The court granted Kamsler a "relief from civil disabilities," a document that allowed him to keep his state license as a certified public accountant. The attorney, Bock, 79, is from Queens, N.Y.
Msnbc.com reported last year that the two men also handled the affairs of another elderly client, Donald Wallace, who in fact was the previous attorney for Huguette Clark. After the man's will was revised six times, during years when his relatives said he was suffering from dementia, Bock and Kamsler ended up as his executors and also beneficiaries in his will, getting his New York apartment and his Mercedes.
An attorney representing Bock and Kamsler in the estate case, John Dadakis of the firm of Holland and Knight, issued this statement Wednesday through a spokesman: "For 30 years, Irving Kamsler was Mrs. Clark's accountant, and for 15 years Wallace Bock was her attorney. There is no allegation in the papers filed that either individual was taking anything out of her account for themselves. Their entire handling of her affairs was an effort to protect and preserve Mrs. Clark's chosen lifestyle."
---
Documents (PDF files)
Family reply to nurse Peri and Bock and Kamsler, Dec. 21, 2011
Public administrator's petition to remove Bock and Kamsler, Dec. 20, 2011
Bock and Kamsler reply to the family's motion to intervene, Dec. 16, 2011
Nurse Peri's motion opposing the family entering the case, Dec. 7, 2011
Family motion to intervene in the estate case, Nov. 28, 2011
Huguette Clark's last will and testament, signed April 19, 2005
Huguette Clark's previous will, signed March 7, 2005
Family's petition seeking a guardian for Huguette Clark, September 2010
Attorney Bock's sworn statement to the court, September 2010
Judge's ruling rejecting her family's guardianship petition, September 2010
Kamsler letter informing Clark of his guilty plea, February 2009
Kamsler's criminal court file and investigator's report
---
Previous stories in the Huguette Clark mystery on msnbc.com:
Archive of all stories, photos and videos
Photo narrative, "The Clarks: An American story of wealth, scandal and mystery," Feb. 26, 2010.
Printable version of the photo narrative, Feb. 26, 2010.
Clark family notes and sources, Feb. 26, 2010.
Investigative report, part one, "At 104, the mysterious heiress Huguette Clark is alone now: Relatives are kept away. Only her accountant and attorney visit. Who protects HuguetteClark, with 3 empty homes and no heirs?" Aug. 19, 2010.
Investigative report, part two, "Who is watching Huguette Clark's millions? Reclusive heiress's assets are sold by two advisers, one an accountant with a felony conviction. Another elderly client signed over his property to the same accountant and attorney," Aug. 20, 2010.
"Criminal probe begins into the finances of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark: Manhattan DA's Elder Abuse Unit is on the case. The same unit prosecuted the Brooke Astor case — though Clark has about four times the wealth," Aug. 24, 2010.
"Report sparks welfare check on heiress Huguette Clark," Aug. 25, 2010.
"Generosity of an heiress: four homes for a nurse, gifts for attorney's family," Sept. 1, 2010.
"Huguette Clark, the reclusive heiress, has signed a will, attorney says," Sept. 2, 2010.
"Family of copper heiress asks court to protect her from attorney, accountant," Sept. 3, 2010.
"Attorney for 104-year-old heiress defends his handling of her finances," Sept. 7, 2010.
"Judge leaves pair under investigation in control of heiress Huguette Clark's fortune," Sept. 9, 2010.
"Huguette Clark, the reclusive copper heiress, dies at 104," May 24, 2011.
"Family excluded from Huguette Clark burial," May 26, 2011.
"Heiress Huguette Clark's will leaves $1 million to advisers," June 22, 2011.
"The 1 percent of the 1 percent: How Huguette Clark's millions were spent," Nov. 19, 2011.
"A $400 miillion twist: Huguette Clark signed two wills, one to her family," Nov. 28, 2011.
"Tax fraud alleged in estate of heiress Huguette Clark; accountant resigns," Dec. 21, 2011.
"Nurse, in line to inherit millions, battles family of heiress Huguette Clark," Dec. 22, 2011.
Took long enough. Anybody with an ounce of common sense knew from the get go that these fellows are rats of the worst kind.
The two Men should be responsible for the payment of the Taxes since they caused the problem, I'm sure they have money stashed away somewhere that they stole from her ....
I'm sure that these men will get off relatively scot-free. Just some minor fines, no jail time, no legal action.
After all, the 1% take care of their own, even when they are busted, right?
Wish some of the estate would go to the communities of Butte and Anaconda, MT. Her father certainly knew how to take, maybe it's time something was given back!
everybody failed this old lady; the D.A. was alerted over 3 years ago, did nothing; first time it got to court, the Judge jumped in, his allegations are criminal in nature;
URSAMAJOR: I guess you do not like the system, the Judges are our last line of defense against run away government and crooks , as these two jokers may well be. your comment was foolish .
Yeah, that is the American way to do business! Frigging lawyers!
Glad to see the best example of how capitalism works like a slick machine in the interest of the common good. Or should I say a sick machine.
I've seen illegal workers sweating in the orchards, providing more sustenance for the economy than the pampered rich from the guilded age.
Life is so ironic.
Ms. Clark would have been wise to make financial arrangements for her own care and upkeep while still living, and distributing the rest of her estate per her wishes while she was still young enough to be of sound mind. She herself was greedy to try and hold on to her enormous wealth until the day she died. Her money could have been put to good use if she had not been so determined to hang on to every penney until she drew her last breath. Such a waste of wealth; she could have done so much good, but chose to be tight fisted. In the end, she allowed her estate to be squandered by greedy people, just like herself.
j.Hicks; she was in all probability mentally ill for many years; she did however give away over 200 million to charity's during her life time; my biggest surprise is with the medical profession, why they did not alert the authority's years ago, she was kept in total isolation, surrounded by her doll collection, living in a one room nursing home, when she had access to three of the most prestigious estates in the United States; the legal, medical,elderly watch associations totalled failed her, very sad.
Let's not forget her doctor, why would he allow her to "live" in the hospital? Let's not forget the $100,000 she supposedly left him...pleeeeese give me a break already. The attorney, the accountant, the doctor and nurse are nothing but thieves.
$41.5 million in taxes for $56 million in gifts... And the moonbats say the rich aren't being taxed enough.
peteMT - the 1% in this case is dead, so no, there is no one to sweep this under the rug. This is the 99% taking advantage of a rich recluse. And no, it's not OK to take advantage of her because she was so rich. A crime is a crime.
Maybe we should cut off welfare from lazy able bodied people and put them to work in the orchards. Oh right, that welfare money is being used to buy Democrat votes.
After all, the 1% take care of their own, even when they are busted, right?
Until you mess with the IRS.
Then Lady Justice gets angry.
One would hope that these RATS face criminal charges, are convicted, and get a Madoff-like sentence. It would also be nice if all of the money they've stolen from the estate is identified, if not recovered in full.
Short, the taxes in this case are not income taxes, but gift and Generation-Skipping-Transfer taxes. The GST tax is a gift tax on the monetary gifts given to people more than 35 years younger than the gift giver. How many millionaires in the U.S. do you think give multimillion dollar gifts to individuals and pay these high tax rates? I can't say for sure, but I don't think very many do.
I guarantee that the least penalty the lawyer and accountant will face is loss of their licenses. Lady Justice isn't the only entity who gets angry about tax evasion, tax fraud, professional conflicts of interest, failure to carry out fiduciary responsibilities and misuse of clients' funds.
And as for the sizeable "gift tax": that should be a credit against the estate task due after Ms. Clark's death. Whether a taxpayer transfers property during his/her lifetime (at least in amounts exceeding certain parameters) or the transfers are done by will or intestacy after death, tax is calculated on the total estate and so taxes already paid are credited against that sum.
NO question that this woman was victimized over her lifetime. Even if it's true that she claimed to prefer total isolation that's not rational so the "following her wishes" defense is ludicrous. A professional, especially in a fiduciary capacity such as an attorney is supposed to act in the best interest of the client especially when the client has a disability. I doubt these men would have encouraged her "wishes" if they hadn't been making money doing so.
As to doctors and staff of the hospital? They have elder abuse people on the payroll. Why did no one look into this?
Evil flourishes while good men do nothing.
Really a shame. Ms. Clark had not been 100% well for sometime and trusted these greedy thieves to help her arranging her affairs. Very sad.
FactoftheMatter,
Well there are the taxes and penalties that the IRS claims are due, and then there is the amount for which the IRS settles. Rarely are these close to the same number. Why settle for less? Prosecution takes time, costs money, and bears uncertainty in a court ruling. Better to settle cheap and get a check.
irened9,
Did you personally know Ms. Clark? You paint her as a victim. Why, because she was aged? Is dementia automatic with age? Didn't Ms. Clark withdraw from society at an early and cogent age? Didn't she choose to live alone in a massive 5th Avenue apartment? Whether she made subsequent decisions to "hole up" in a private hospital room, or was forced by her minders; is the same debate made about Howard Hughes, for the last twenty years. My experience with my brother during the last thirteen years of his life, with frequent visits by me, was that he CHOSE his living arrangements. So would it have been better to strip Ms. Clark of all dignity, confine her to another private hospital (asylum) of the state's choosing, and allow the state to run rampant with it's wards estate (convert it all to cash and convert cash into state bonds?).
To all,
The feast of the legal jackylls now begins. Of $400million, I suspect that well less than $100million will ever find the way to any heirs. The rest will be consumed by accountants, dealers and auction houses, lawyers, tax men, and the courts. And we'll learn the the estate, with $40million painting and a $100million mansion with grounds was really only worth $150million or less. But will still sell privately for more the the original valuation.
J. Hicks
I have been with this story from the very beginning. Ms. Clark did have her ducks in a row when she was younger. If you will look at the court filings in pdf form you will see there was a plan for the distribution of her estate made in 1930. This plan also falls in line with the first will she made in 2005, the one made 6 weeks prior to the one that has been filed by Bock.
It is about time, both of these slimeballs belong in prison. They took advantage of an elderly woman to line their own pockets and those of their family. Neither one of them has any business being in a position of trust with anyone else's money. They have demonstrated time and again that they are only out for themselves. I hope that the court invalidates the second will and reverts to the the first will that left the bulk of her estate to her family. The second will is completely suspect as it was executed after these two had effectively cut of Clark from her family by denying hm any access to her. While they claim they were carrying out her wishers, I do not buy it. The supposed reason for the change in the will was that these relatives had abandoned her, which was not the case. The attorney was intentionally keeping her family from contacting her so that he could, in coordination with the accountant, manipulate Clark to suit their own purposes. I would not be at all surprised to learn that the nurse worked in concert with the lawyer and accountant and drugged Clark in order to get her to sign the new will. The three of them probably saw the first will and decided that they were not getting enough so they manipulated Clark into signing the second will. While I would hope that the family would give a significant portion of the estate to charity, I would rather see it in their hands than see the multi-million dollar bequest to the nurse, who has already received several sizable gifts, be allowed to stand. I would bet that there is some under the table agreement that the nurse will quietly turn over a large chunk of her good fortune to the lawyer and accountant once the attention dies down. This was all engineered to avoid the direct bequest of a large sum of money to the accountant and lawyer which would have raised immediate red flags and been completely unethical. Instead they set it up to run the money through the nurse to try and avoid the scrutiny. I certainly hope that the courts do not fall for this and fully investigate the relationship between the nurse, accountant, and attorney to expose this fraud. These two belong in prison for what they did to this poor woman, intentionally cutting her off from her family and milking her estate for their own gains. They should both be locked up for a long time for what they have done and not get a dime from the estate. The only thing I would like to see the accountant and the lawyer get are long prison sentences for their unethical, and likely illegal handling of Clark's money over the years. If it can be proven that the nurse was in cahoots with these two, then she should also spend a long time in prison and be forced to give back all questionable gifts, including the $5 million gift check that apparently was illegally written to her. This nurse is such a greedy bitch that she is not happy with the $26 million she has already received and the additional $5 million she would have received under the first will, she wants the $30 million in the second will and is willing to fight to cut the family out to get it. If she were smart she would side with the family and take the $5 million and be happy. By causing a fight, every penny she has received over the years is going to be examined and she could very well have to give large chunks of that money back, including the recent $5 million dollar check.
It just goes to show that you should change lawyers at least once a year. Accountants are just as bad. Much like congress, they are too close to power, and the longer you leave them there, the more corrupt they get.
I see quite a few comments that are anti American and against the capitalist system system that once made this country great.
Wars were fought to keep this country free and to have people in this country trying to destroy us from he inside is sometimes too much for me. For all of you that love communist or the socialist way of life please leave this country. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. People from all over the world are crashing our borders and still you hear Anti- American talk. Reminds me of a lot of what Obama has to say about this country also.
We will never be a communist country and we will undo as much damage as possible that Obama has done in his one and only term. If he wins in 2012 everybody will become takers and nobody will work. Why should the 1% do any more than what they have to? Why bust your butt just for this country to hand out another 99 weeks of unemployment? Why don't we protect our borders and now we have 15+ million doing the jobs that American's won't? This is Obama plan which is totally un-American.
There is a reporter who has followed this case long post most people said he should let the lady rest in peace, and deserves kudos for bringing the financial inproprieties of those she intrusted with her estate, to light.
Mr. Bill Dedmen, it is nice to know that some people can see wrong doing occuring, and refuse to simply sit back and let it happen. You restore some of my faith in human kind, and I am fairly certain there is a special place in heaven for someone like you!
Oh please let's not have this become another political debate..
I, for one, REFUSE to believe that an attorney and an accountant would violate their professional ethics for the sake of mere money.
Now, THAT'S sarcasm!
So, now the rest of her estate will be sucked up by the dozens of attorneys newly appointed to settle it. It's a total racket. I spit on the shoes of all of them.
It's bad to be poor and old in the US but it's even worse to be rich and old. Poor people can only be sent away to die. Rich people,get fleeced then sent away to die. God I love this country. Don't go nuts, that's sarcasm people!!
The reality is that being over 75 means growing less competent to handle all of things that were easily and effortlessly managed at age 35. To expect anyone over the age of 80 to have the mental acuity they had at age 50 is misguided. As people age, their world grows smaller around them and they begin to realize that their mortality is staring them in the face every hour of every day. That creates insecurity and more dependency upon others for care.
There is only one truism about money: It always runs out. One way or the other. Ms. Clark lived in luxury most of her life. But, as with everything in this life, there's a price to pay even for such luxury and wealth. Some pay their dues sooner than others.
Rats of the worst kind? DITO.
note that there are what, 12 lawyers involved? Sure does look as though the buzzards are circling the carcas, in hope of a big payday.
This old woman sure does seem to have been fleeced by her "trusted" accountant and attorney. They should both be put in jail.
Like maggots on dead flesh ...
It seems crooked lawyers and accountants are the only 'growth industry' in this recession! I hope justice is served in this instance and the judge comes down harshly on these guys!
It's All About Money ! ............
No one gives a rats ass about Huguette Clark or her last wishes!
A Pox on All Their Houses! The thieves with briefcases will take it all now ..
Don't forget the nurse. She was helping herself, too. Four mansions, luxury cars, a $5 million check, supposedly part of the $26 mullion given to her in the last 15 years, the same time period the thieving accountant and lawyer have been lining their pockets, and $30 million bequeathed in the new will. She was cleaning up, too.
Didn't I read before that she had family that was trying to see her but was blocked by the attorney? I hope that this pond scum, nurse included, gets prosecuted for theft. I believe that they were stealing and still stealing from her.
rdixiesunrise61,
Many of us have "family" that we do not wish to see, ever, period. I was months old when my birth parents divorced. Her children by later mate(s) tried to contact me for several years. I have NO interest in the people. Other than sharing some genetic components, I have NO experience, emotion, or societal debt in common with them. I have made a conscious, sane decision that we have no reason to meet.
When her "family" relatives had to start stacking the "Great"s in Great, Great-Aunt Hugette; they stopped being family and became the same greedy folk you deride.
I have been following this story from the beginning and have been wondering if anyone has ever questioned this woman's competency. Not just as she aged but in general. It sounds like she had issues. She was briefly married but there is no evidence that she actually lived with her husband. She lived with her mother until her death and then, after her mother's death, lived a reclusive life with dolls. It doesn't sound like a very sane person.
Have you now? You can email Bill Dedman who is the person who has been writing the articles on this for years.
I have also followed this as closely as I was able. I do not think there was ever a question of her competency - the whole issue, as I see it, was her withdrawl from society, both by choice and the apparent isolation fostered by her attornies. To me, the attornies have committed a crime and thievery.
This whole thing will probably last for years because her distant family should now have more of a claim on her estate than all those lawyers who have found some way to get themselves involved. All they should get is a very long jail sentence and a kick in the shiny part of their pants.
The only things that is certain now is that this poor lady is finally at peace and if she only had one penny in her pocket when she died she had more money than she needed to get where she was going.
An attorney commit a crime? No! They get away with murder. Part of the rules they are suppose to follow is they are suppose to help you to the best of their ability. lol Yeah right.
The out they use is if they dont feel like your case their liking financially, they will say they have a full caseload and cant take your case. They break the law constantly using this lie and it makes me sick to my stomach.
Gablegal
Being reclusive nor having issues does not qualify one as insane. She was married for less than 6 months and we have no idea where she lived while she was married. I presume it didn't take her long to figure out he was a gold digger and divorced him. This probably caused her to very sadly realize her chances of finding real love in a husband where very small if at all. This is also probably when she made the decision to spend her life alone with the only human/things she could trust...her mother and her dolls. She was also an accomplished musician playing the piano, violin, and I may be mistaken, the harp. She also spoke two languages, French and English. I seriously doubt she was insane.
CRI investigator
An attorney is in business for himself or his employer. As any business owner will tell you they have the choice and the right to decide who they want to do business with. This also means they have the right to refuse service to anyone they chose to unless they are being discriminitory. If they don't want to take your case, well they don't have to. Get over yourself. There are more than enough lawyers in this country, pick another one. FYI...if you keep getting turned away you should presume your case has no merit and they are being nice by telling you they have a full case load.
You mean you can't trust your attorney?
I'm shocked! Just shocked!
Remember Attorneys get about 30% of what ever they do.
You can trust your attorney to look out for his or her own best interests and payday regardless of the outcome of your situation.
And do about 30% of what you pay them for.
To all the legal naysayers I would just like to point out one item which motivates lawyers more than your money.
WINNING
Just ask Jose Baez if he is more enticed by money or by winning. Just ask Ed Chernoff if he is more motivated by money or the prospect of winning.
An attorney won't be in business for very long if all they do is lose cases.
Her attorney and accountant been dealing with her for years and in their notes/letters and to this day still refer to her as Mrs Clark, even the DA is calling her Mrs Clark.
She is not Mrs Clark..get it correct you bunch of crooks! Ms/Miss Clark is correct.
@mike277
She would be correctly styled "Mrs." even after a divorce. This usage is now pretty much obsolete, but this woman was over a hundred years old, after all. The one thing that is never correct is to refer to a divorced woman as "Miss." That's strictly for never-married women.
The all-purpose "Ms." is a terrific innovation and long overdue, in my opinion. Also, it's important to note that this is a free country, and a person can style himself or herself pretty much any way they choose, regardless of what the etiquette manuals dictate.
Wait there a problem..Now there going to be more lawyers who wants that piece of that 40 million dollar pie..By the time this case is settle who going to pay who? lol
Add the words "is" and "are" in the correct places. ;-)
I believe it's a 400 million dollar estate not 40 million. Quite a difference.
It sickens me that these parasites have become rich leaching off this poor woman.
Yeah, it's going to be wonderful when whoever wins this case gets their check for 20 bucks. After all the lawyers get their cuts that's going to be about all that's left.
Funny, when the story came out two years or so ago, her estate was estimated at 500 million. I wonder where that other 100 million went? I'll bet I can guess......
it'll be interesting to find out whats the final payment to the people who inherits whats left. When crook after crook after crook gets their part cause they proved the other two were crooks. Tongue twister huh
Here is really the sad part. She sounds like a rich lonely soul, who had every THING one could ask but nothing of value. Like a trusted relative or friend. Too bad. Maybe some of the 1% will find themselves in the same situation. Family fighting over your wealth and not giving a damn about you!
Her family was not the problem. The nurse and the lawyer and accountant kept her from them.
Not true. Try and not get all your information about this from MSNBC. They have a vested interest in the story and have been milking it for a couple of years. It's hard to find sources out there other than MSNBC since they kind of made this story, but they are there. Her family was stopped from being present at her burial, at her request in her will. There was to be no mass or ceremony, only internment. Her "family" consists of half nieces and nephews from her father's first marriage who never really had any contact with her other than a couple of visits, but were in no way at all involved in this woman's life. She cut them off about 5 years ago at the time she signed the will. Primarily I suspect because of their lack of character in trying to vest themselves in a personal fortune that they really had not rights or interest in. Things are not always as they seem on the surface. Do a little digging before you start tossing around blame.
Actually amused if you actually read the article her family was in her will. She signed 2 wills within 6 weeks at age 98. As for your claim they have no right to any of her fortune, well that may be your opinion but the fortune came from her father and her family is from her fathers first marriage. So it stands to reason they have just as much right and interest as she did. Bottom line though, the attorney and sex offender accountant were definitely up to no good an trying to alter her fortune to their benefit.
Amused In The Midwest
You are wrong on so many items I'm not going to address them all. Suffice it to say you are wrong. Please re-research your information and sources.
Judy...there are plenty in the 99% that are alone and miserable because of their attitude toward family. Whether or not a person has money doesn't necessarily inhibit them from being a good person or a jerk.
The state and federal government are also circling the carcas for taxes and penalties for someone who probably had no clue about this for the last 25 years.
You are so right. When it's all said and done, the government is going to make these snakes look like Boy Scouts!
Try to preserve her lifestyle? Huh? She was in a hospital for what, the last 20 years of her life or so? What kind of "lifestyle" was that? Or did they mean their lifestyles? heh, typical thieves..
This case is a mess. These two fiduciaries broke every rule. It is not clear from this story, but if any charity is a residual beneficiary of the estate, that is a percentage rather than a specific amount, then in NY State the Attorney General becomes an interested party. Then the settlement must be signed by the AG. It will get worse.
The family should have hired a Corporate Fiduciary. The process is slower but more accurate and because of the internal controls within a larger organization, people can't steal. USTrust, JPMorgan, Wilmington Trust Bessemer Trust have been handling estate like this for 100 years and don't have these issues. They are just slow in settling because they tie up all loose ends.
The family will get nothing more than what they already recieved the Government and lawyers will get it.
You are right!!! All will go to them.
The lawyer fees are set by New York law, the judge must approve every single dime in payment; however you are right about the government, they will get the major part of the estate in taxes since there are no surviving spouse, the estate will be taxed at the top rate by federal and new york law, about 80% will go to the different governments.
With this much money involved it is an absolute certainty that lawyers will get most of it. Bock and Kamsler may both be crooks, but they had no hope of continuing to raid her fortune. That will be done by other lawyers. So far there are twelve involved in feasting on the carcass. Before everything is settled there will be hundreds, all lawyers.
I for one would like to see this type of person proscuted like child molesters, which in a sence they are when the people they're preying opon are senile or In their second childhood. Hardly a day gos by when there's not a story of someone taking advantage of the elderly in the news
one of the guys WAS a child sex offender, yet continues to work in his field! What a joke our system is.
He was an accountant. Yeah, he should have been fried. What an idiotic thing to say. As long as he wasn't working with children then he deserved to go on with his life. And you should get one (a life).
Three accountants were vying for a corporate job opening. Each was asked "how much is two plus two?". The one who got the job had answered "how much would you like it to be?". Oh, and Amused: the word is interment, not internment.
Odds are likely that the only "people" that are going to get any money, are the lawyers and the govt..
This proves my favorite Vito Corleone Quote: "A lawyer with his briefcase, can steal more money than a hundred men with guns."
What "Other People" are ENTITLED to her money? These idiot 99%ers think they are. The FAMILY may be entitled by law.
You've got that right. The lawyers and the government are going to find any way they can to get a huge piece of this woman's fortune. It's sad, really. The government is no different than her executors or the myriad lawyers who are working this case: they all want the money. Piss on them all.
Why is it that rich people tend to do illegal stuff without getting caught for years, while a poor person can be slapped in jail immediately for failing to pay for a $2 sandwich? (a sandwich that's actually worth less than $.30) It seems the lawyer and accountant may have forged the second will, or persuaded this woman to sign it under duress, just so they could get more than their share of the millions. Also, why is it that only rich people -- people who don't need the money -- seem to run for political office? Is it because their money and the power that comes with it makes them think they are smarter than most people?
Simple. Money! They can afford the representation, plus, they game the system by lobbying for laws in their favor.
That is, when they're not creating jobs.
Mathuin, I share your frustration, but your questions are kind of disingenous. Rich people don't get caught when they steal because they can afford to wait and scheme. They can take the time to falsely document whatever they need to bury the theft. A stolen sandwich is a stolen sandwich. And rich people don't think they're smarter necessarily--you just have to be well-funded and well-connected in most cases to even think about waging a political campaign.
I guess the trusted attorney and accountant will have to go on welfare.
Yep welfare and don't forget unemployment benefits...
"The estate will now be managed entirely by attorneys for the public administrator of New York County".
Really? What the County will do to Ms. Clark's Estate will make the Attorney and Accountant seem like 'altar boys'. I predict that a) the County will "clawback" all gifts the County deems as inappropriate (the $5 million to the nurse, for instance), b) claim "Eniment Domain" over the entire Estate, putting the entire $400 million into the County/State coffers, and thus avoiding paying the IRS the back Gift Taxes (plus penalties) c) sue both the Accountant and the Attorney for whatever fees the County deems they did not deserve.
The ONLY winner will be the County of New York, and maybe the State of New York. The only difference between the Attorneys for the County and the Estate Attorney is that the County Attorneys work for the County, so the 'fleecing' of Ms. Clark's Estate will be deemed legal.
THIS is the biggest tragedy of the whole affair.
@PilotHawkeye2: You don't understand what eminent domain is or how it works. The government cannot invoke eminent domain to simply confiscate cash.
@Arnold: I totally understand how eminent domain works. Just ask the people in New London, CT who had their home illegally siezed (and supported by the State Supreme Court) in order to build a private development which had an upward potential of bringing in more property tax dollars to New London. The developer who was supposed to start construction went bankrupt, and these people lost their homes for no reason.
While I will concede your point regarding eminent domain just for the purpose of seizing cash, I stand by my pessimistic opinion that the County/State officials will see to it that the entire $400 million goes into county/state coffers. They will come up with a way to make it work.
The eminent domain cases involving 'upgrading' property tax potential by condemning 'distressed' communities and selling to private developers have gotten a fair amount of media attention. The New London case even made it to the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the city.
Because of the uproar a number of states enacted laws designed to prevent what happened in New London. Odds are attempts to do something like this again will be met by better organized opposition.
Getting back to the original posting, while eminent domain can't be used to gain access to the cash, other methods might be possible. It would need to be done in a way that wouldn't make others complain.
Thats the real truth!! Everyone seems to be overlooking the fact that it is indeed the government looking to steal the rest of the pie.
"Eminent Domain" is the process by which government can seize privately held real property for a public use (e.g., a highway, a school building, etc.) it has no application to estate law.
This begs one great big question....Someone owed the IRS all of this money and they did nothing about it? Wow isn't that one great big slippery hole for people to slip through. You mean to tell me there are no checks and balances or cross checks so the IRS can take action on something like this? Just think if we caught a few of these we could balance the budget. The government needs to do its due diligence. Talk about neglecting your fiduciary duty.
Well said! They probably cut the IRS staff...maybe they could "hire" the two guilty bulldogs - they seem to be able to sniff out a payday.
According to Dante, in "The Inferno" portion of his "Divine Comedy", the lowest pit of Hell is reserved for what he called "false counselors" - those who are entrusted to serve another and who use that trust to their own advantage and/or to the disadvantage of the person to whom they pledged their honor and loyalty.
Let's hope that Dante was right and these two slimers end up at the very bottom of Hell, directly beneath Satan's incontinent bung hole.
Don't forget the slimy foreign nurse. End H1b visas, no need.
The attorney and accountant should be forced to pay all IRS penalties if they are found guilty.
Pure and simple old fashioned GREED! They got what they deserved. Ha ha ha !!! Money is just a representation of wealth, but like electricity, it can be used correctly AND wisely or it can be used incorrectly and stupidly. I guess those two bums along with the so called nurse chose the latter. Now is payback time.
It's people like those 2 that give accountants and lawyers a bad name.
There is a lot of people, like "those 2". They just do a better job, of not being so obvious.
Rest in peace Ms. Clark, God knows you didn't have any here on earth.......
Sure she did. She refused to see anyone and holed herself up on a hospital room with a full care nurse. She lived her life the way she chose to. I just can't boo-hoo over some reclusive who lived off an inheritance, until over the age of 100. If she wanted a different life, she was lucky to have been a genetic lottery winner and have the option and ability to do ANYTHING she wanted.
I think she wasted her life and could have had a much richer one if she hadn't let herself be confined and defined by her FATHER'S money.
Human greed... very pervasive in this society these days. These Lawyers are the scum o' the earth.