A Follow Up – Probate Court Examining Expenses of Wealthy Heiress

However, the court may be more focused on her attorney and accountant, recipients of relatively small bequests of $500,000 each, but who have charged much for their services over the years, and are scheduled to earn even more managing her estate and the new museum. MSNBC examined the court filing and reported on the expenditures. Some were clearly for her benefit, such as almost $5 million to the hospital over the past 15 years. It comes to around $1,000 a day, sadly typical for a hospital room, though Ms. Clark could have found comparable services for much less elsewhere. Still, she could afford it, so if that is what she wanted, why not? There were large payments to people who served her, such as $5,000 per month to her physician, just over $130,000 per year (along with a one-time $5 million bonus) to Ms. Peri, and $1.7 million over the period to her late friend and social secretary who died a few weeks before her.

Some of the largest expenses went for the maintenance of her two estates and New York apartment. The unused Santa Barbara estate cost $8.8 million to maintain over the past 15 years. Perhaps her one “vice” was that Ms. Clark collected dolls. In a sense, they may have been the family she no longer had. Or perhaps, like Peter Pan, she wished to forever remain in her childhood. That was likely the happiest time of her life. There were $2.5 million in payments to a Paris doll and toy shop, another $729,000 to a doll auction. Expenses indicate that she continued to purchase dolls well past her 100^th birthday. All told, her attorney and accountant spent $126 million over the past 15 years on her behalf, about $60 million of that going for taxes. Another $43 million was transferred to her checking account, payments from which may garner the greatest attention. MSNBC noted that she spent about $1 million a month over the period, quite a bit for an elderly lady living alone in a hospital room.

What are likely to generate the most careful examination are payments to her attorney, Wallace Bock, and accountant, Irving Kamsler. They appear to have controlled most access to her. Bock's law firm made about $250,000 per year, while Kamsler earned around $90,000. Both stand to make millions if the court allows them to manage the estate. Kamsler generated a bit of extra scrutiny by being a convicted felon and registered sex offender. Clark's $1.85 million payment to an Israeli West Bank settlement for a security system also raised a few eyebrows. Ms. Clark was raised Catholic, but Mr. Bock's daughter and grandchildren live in the settlement. Mr. Bock said he asked Ms. Clark for the contribution. This is one of those gray areas, as it is certainly possible that the generous Ms. Clark would have agreed, maybe enthusiastically, maybe reluctantly, to such a request. Whether Mr. Bock should have used his access to make such a request is debatable.

There is much sadness in this story. Huguette Clark, who seems to have been a very nice lady, lived for so long, but seems to have received so little in benefits from the wealth her father left her. While her existence seems strange to us, we can only hope that she enjoyed life in her confined world as fully as those who live life in a world without such boundaries. As for whether those who took care of her also took advantage of her, we will probably never know for certain. However, the court will have to make its best guess.

For our earlier story on Huguette Clark, her father, and her life, please click here.

For MSNBC's investigation of the court filing, click here.

Addendum: On Monday last, relatives of Ms. Clark filed a different will, apparently made just a few weeks prior to the one previously filed, which left most of her estate to family members on her father's side. If this was a legitimate will, it certainly will raise questions as to why she made such an enormous about-face in such a short period of time. Stay tuned.