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In Surprise Twist, Family Of Dead Copper Heiress Have Will That Says They Get Money!
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 29, 2011
Modified Nov 29, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 29, 2011
Modified Nov 29, 2011
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After spending the last two decades of her long reclusive life living in hospitals, Gilded Age copper heiress Huguette Clark died earlier this year at age 104. At once, the jackals descended—actually, they descended well before her death, it seems. The Manhattan DA is currently investigating Clark's lawyer, Wallace Bock, and her accountant, Irving Kamsler, for their handling of Clark’s affairs. Her lawyer has a will that shows Clark didn't want to give any money to her family, but now the family is in possession of a different will, signed by Clark, that says she DID intend them to have a big inheritance! Fire up some Jiffy Pop and hit the Drama Button—this is gonna get petty.
According to the tabloids, the family revealed the existence of the new will in papers filed in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court, and accused the lawyer and accountant of "plundering" their beloved old matriarch, whose most recent will declares, "I intentionally make no provision...for any members of my family, having had minimal contacts with them over the years." But before that will was signed, there was ANOTHER will, signed in March 2005, which leaves $5 million to Clark’s nurse, and everything else to the 21 relatives.
But then, a month later, Clark signed another will that left most of the estate to a private foundation to be run by the lawyer and the accountant. Who to believe: the poor bereaved family who want nothing more than to remember their beloved Huguette in the lifestyle she would have wanted for them, or the lawyers and the bean counters? The relatives' court filing asserts that the lawyer and accountant "took control of her life, isolated her from family, and ultimately stripped her of her free will, as well as millions of dollars."
Their lawyer, John Morken, also tells the Daily News that Clark was a young woman also left the estate in the family. "That was the plan all the way back to the 1920s," he insists. The court filing also alleges that Clark had “remained true to her family” by “remaining in contact with certain of her relatives over the years, sharing events in their lives,” until they were blocked by Bock from taking to her. But then the Post reports this: Bock and Kamsler are the ones who provided the family with the previously unseen will! Like we said, DRAMA. $400 million is on the line here, so stay tuned as the wealthy world turns.
Tagged
heiress
huguette clark
inheritence
rich people things
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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