Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is suing to oust the trustees in her late husband’s estate in a bitter feud, alleging elder financial abuse.
The 90-year-old senator filed the suit on Aug. 8, accusing the co-trustees of “wrongfully withholding distributions to which Trust entitles her in bad faith and diverting assets that they should have used to fund” her sub-trust.
Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum, was the former president of equity investment management fund Blum Capital. He died in February of last year with a net worth reportedly close to $1 billion.
Feinstein is calling for a temporary trustee to handle Blum’s trust so that she can gain access to some of those funds.
She has bestowed power of attorney to her daughter, Katherine Feinstein, who pushed the suit on her behalf.
The suit, which was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, was slapped against Michael Klein, Marc Scholvinck, and Verett Mims, who are all co-trustees for the estate.
It further alleged that the trustees “funded gifts to Blum’s daughters or forgiven their indebtedness” without giving her the proper notice.
A lawyer for Klein and Scholvinck told the news outlet that they “never denied any disbursement to Senator Feinstein.”
However, Feinstein’s suit countered that was deceitful, alleging that “trustees have failed to respond to any requests for disbursements, which is a de facto denial.”
Back in March, Feinstein was informed that Blum’s estate lacked liquidity, which was why she wasn’t accruing funds, per court filings.
Klein previously stated in a separate filing that she was netting $125,000 each quarter due to a lawsuit she filed in June.
The senator’s suit further contended that she’s been unable to get a full accounting of the estate.
Klein had emphasized the “exceptionally complex” nature of Blum’s estate.
Feinstein has also filed two separate lawsuits in June and July, raising complaints about her lack of access to her late husband’s trust, with hearings in the cases slated for Aug. 21 and Sept. 5 respectively.
The long-serving California senator has announced that she won’t vie for reelection in 2024, opening the floodgates to a bitterly contentious Democratic primary process.
As she continues to serve out her term, Feinstein, who is the oldest sitting lawmaker in either chamber of Congress, has been plagued by mental lapses.
At one point during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last month, an aide and one of her colleagues had to prompt her to vote “aye” on the annual defense spending bill.
She was also hospitalized earlier this year after a bout with shingles and was absent from the Senate for about three months before returning in May.
Last Tuesday, she was briefly hospitalized as a precaution after a fall in her San Francisco home that left her uninjured.
The Senate is currently on recess and set to return on Sept. 5.
