I have gotten so tired of this Huguette Clark lawsuit thing. I mean, she was reclusive in life but almost exhibitionist post mortem.
But still, I wrote about this estate battle several times and feel obligated now to write about it maybe for the last time because, as the Times says, there’s a settlement deal in the works, thanks to the ministrations of the New York State Attorney General.
There are a couple of rather juicy paragraphs:
As jury selection began in a lawsuit filed by her relatives, a tentative settlement was brokered by the New York State attorney general’s office over the last few days. Under the settlement, the family would get about $34.5 million after taxes. Mrs. Clark’s lawyer, Wallace Bock, and accountant, Irving Kamsler, would get nothing; her nurse, Hadassah Peri, would get nothing and would have to give back $5 million, according to lawyers involved in the case. Mr. Bock, Mr. Kamsler and Mrs. Peri would be able to keep gifts that Mrs. Clark had left them while she was alive — in Mrs. Peri’s case, more than $30 million worth.
Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, the hospital where Mrs. Clark lived for the last 20 years of her life, would get the $1 million she gave it in her second will, the parties said, and her doctor, Henry Singman, would get $100,000. But the hospital and Dr. Singman could be subject to further court proceedings challenging gifts they had received outside the will, one of the parties said.
As I wrote recently, when very rich people are dying, vultures will improperly feed off the live body. Bring it to court, though, and the vultures have to regurgitate a few of the body parts.
I’m almost tempted to say, “Poor Huguette Clark.” But that’s the problem: she wasn’t.