What the Democrats are doing with Feinstein is elder abuse.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
[url=https://townhall.com/

The articles linked are paywalled so I couldn't see them and Townhall isn't my go-to for thoughtful legal analysis but this is hard to make sense of, I mean really hard.

People with a billion laying around usually have competent, expert even. legal advice. All of the issues in this art. could have should have been cleared up in the first draft of the decedent's estate plan.
Maybe the daughter has gone rogue and neglected to get counsel of her own, but I frankly have a hard time thinking it is as messed up as the journalists are implying.

If the parties wanted this unfucked they could likely get it done in pretty short order; Trust, one document, estate under will, another document, California law laid over both and we're done.

I'm working in the dark though. The articles don't actually make sense.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
In another disagreement, the two factions are at odds over access to the proceeds of Mr. Blum’s life insurance, which Senator Feinstein says she needs to pay for her growing medical expenses.

Yep, she's nearly destitute with a reported net worth of $87,000,000.

full article

https://www.sfchronicle.com/po...ns-ugly-18208388.php

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has taken legal action in San Francisco, claiming she has been unable to access any of her late husband’s assets, including money to pay for “significant medical expenses” after a bout with shingles.

Feinstein’s husband, financier Richard Blum, died in February 2022 after a long fight with cancer. According to a lawsuit filed Monday in San Francisco Superior Court by Feinstein’s daughter, Katherine Feinstein — who has power of attorney in her mother’s legal matters — Sen. Feinstein has not received any of the assets from Blum’s estate as dictated in his trust agreement.

Feinstein appointed her daughter, who was a child from a previous marriage, as co-trustee of Blum’s estate in August 2022. Katherine Feinstein is not a beneficiary of the trust.

Feinstein “incurred significant medical expenses,” according to the suit, which claims the “purported trustees have refused to make distributions to reimburse Senator Feinstein’s medical expenses.” Feinstein was diagnosed with the shingles virus in late February and hospitalized in early March. She was absent from the Senate for three months, returning in May, and has dealt with medical complications from her illness since.

Questions about Feinstein’s mental fitness have followed her for more than two years. Some of her Democratic colleagues told The Chronicle in April 2022 that they believe her difficulty with memory was hindering her ability to do the job. Feinstein defended her abilities amid each new wave of concern.

The lawsuit alleges that the two people acting as trustees, Michael Klein and Marc Scholvinck, were not properly appointed to the positions by Blum or by Sen. Feinstein after Blum’s death. Klein and Scholvinck were longtime business associates of Blum, who was reportedly a billionaire upon his death. Feinstein is wealthy, independent of her husband’s finances.

Steven Braccini, the attorney representing Klein and Scholyinck, said in a statement that the trust “has never denied any disbursement to Senator Feinstein, let alone for medical expenses.”

Braccini also said they have “not been presented with any evidence showing that Katherine Feinstein has power of attorney for her mother … and remain hopeful that this is simply a misunderstanding that can be quickly resolved, rather than a stepdaughter engaging in some kind of misguided attempt to gain control over trust assets to which she is not entitled.”

The trust document Blum signed in 1996 specified that if he died before Feinstein, all of the trust’s funds would be transferred to a separate trust fund for Feinstein, and the trustee “shall pay to or apply for the benefit of Dianne, at least quarter-annually during her lifetime, the entire net income” of that trust.

“Senator Feinstein is the sole income beneficiary of the 1996 Marital Trust” and used her authority to appoint her daughter as trustee, the lawsuit said.

“This is a private legal matter. Senator Feinstein and her office won’t have any comment,” said Adam Russell, a spokesperson for Feinstein’s office. A hearing for the case is scheduled for Sept. 5.

Katherine Feinstein previously filed a lawsuit June 28 alleging that Klein has refused to sign a grant deed transferring a home in the gated Stinson Beach community of Seadrift to Feinstein, who wants to sell the property. Feinstein and Blum owned three properties together in San Francisco, Hawaii and Stinson Beach.

The June suit alleges that Blum’s three daughters from a previous marriage want to continue using the home at Feinstein’s expense and that they want to prevent a sale of the property to “limit the liquidity available in the RCB Marital Trust because doing so would decrease the yearly distributions to Senator Feinstein and increase the value of their inheritance at Senator Feinstein’s death.”

and from NYT

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/0...-family-fortune.html

Senator Feinstein is also navigating an increasingly bitter legal and financial conflict that pits her and her daughter, Katherine Feinstein, against the three daughters of her late husband Richard C. Blum, who was a wealthy financier.

In one legal dispute, the family is fighting over what’s described as Senator Feinstein’s desire to sell a beach house in an exclusive neighborhood in Stinson Beach, north of San Francisco. In another disagreement, the two factions are at odds over access to the proceeds of Mr. Blum’s life insurance, which Senator Feinstein says she needs to pay for her growing medical expenses.

For those close to Senator Feinstein, the struggle over Mr. Blum’s estate has exacerbated a recent and regrettable chapter that has marred the twilight of a long and successful public life and that has raised concerns about her ability to manage her own affairs.

“The financial conflict is another element that makes the end of her career sad to people who have known her in the high points of her career,” said Jerry Roberts, author of the biography “Dianne Feinstein: Never Let Them See You Cry.” It was published in 1994, two years after she was elected to the Senate.

Raised in affluence, Senator Feinstein has long been among the wealthiest members of Congress. She was rich in her own right in 1980 when she married Mr. Blum. After she entered the Senate, she placed securities into a blind trust that is valued at between $5 million and $25 million, according to her most recent financial disclosure required of lawmakers.

Combined, the couple’s fortunes flourished to an extent that eclipsed even the senator’s prior standard of living. Her main residence is a 9,500-square-foot mansion in the upscale San Francisco neighborhood of Pacific Heights. Their vacation homes, until recently, included the 36-acre Bear Paw Ranch in Aspen, Colo., which sold in March for more than $25 million, and a seven-bedroom Lake Tahoe compound that sold in late 2021 for a reported $36 million. Current holdings include a property on the Hawaii island of Kauai and a home in Washington, D.C.

Among the backdrops to the fight over Mr. Blum’s estate, however, are questions about the extent of his fortune, as well as the out-of-pocket cost of home health care that Senator Feinstein has received since her bout with shingles earlier this year.

During his lifetime, Mr. Blum, Senator Feinstein’s third husband and a private equity magnate, was often referred to in public accounts as a billionaire. However, people familiar with the family’s finances dispute that characterization and say that Mr. Blum’s wealth was less than some heirs had expected. Mr. Blum’s friends said that the pandemic cut deeply into his investments, particularly his extensive holdings in hotels.

“My clients are perplexed by this filing,” Mr. Braccini said in a statement. “Richard Blum’s trust has never denied any disbursement to Senator Feinstein, let alone for medical expenses.”

Katherine Feinstein did not respond to requests for comment.

The statement said that the trustees have not been provided with documentation showing that Katherine Feinstein had been appointed power of attorney. And, in an apparent attempt to raise questions about Senator Feinstein’s capacity to represent her own interests in the lawsuit, it said: “Nor has Katherine made it clear, either in this filing or directly to my clients, why a sitting United States senator would require someone to have power of attorney over her.”

huge money, woman w obvious mental problems - menu for infighting by heirs

In reading through the posted articles, one thing missing is whether Blum's three daughters received everything coming to them from his estate after he died, or if some of that hasn't been disbursed to them yet and Feinstein's daughter is trying to attach some of that to the claim.

Thanks SDY. That clears it up for me. Now it fits into my brain's niche for the normal family squabble over the billions their deceased relations have left.

Don’t 30 year sitting US senators have some diamond plated health care ? I mean my health plan is crappy but still has a 12k annual max out of pocket deductible. In case of extreme medical events. I’m sure difi could stroke a check out of her personal account for her not covered costs, no ?

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
Katherine Feinstein — who has power of attorney in her mother’s legal matters

So, the woman can't make her own legal decisions and has handed that task off to her daughter, yet is making legal decisions that not only affect the state she represents but also the rest of the country? Our Republic is fucked if shit like this continues unchecked.

^^^^^



Except I would argue that OUR Republic is already f**ked. Sad, but true...

quote:

Originally posted by abnmacv:
What the Democrats are doing with Feinstein is elder abuse.

THis is only one of the visible tricks in the dims dirty plays book.

This one they're REALLY good at viz. Biden's "baby sitter/wife".

RMD

RMD

quote:

Originally posted by abnmacv:
What the Democrats are doing with Feinstein is elder abuse.

Yes, clearly. When she was told: "Just say Aye" that's elder abuse. Being told how to make a decision that she clearly doesn't understand nor would necessarily agree to under normal health conditions.

Elder abuse clear and simple.

Hell, why not just put a new will in front of her and say, "Just sign this"

it's no different.

She needs a conservatorship. She does not need to be in the senate.