Kin of Heiress Lose Court Battle Over Guardian

(Sept. 10) -- A judge in Manhattan, N.Y., has denied an independent guardian request filed by relatives of 104-year-old heiress Huguette Clark, saying that their petition is based on hearsay.

The ruling handed down in New York County Supreme Court by Judge Laura Visitacion-Lewis on Thursday means that Clark's affairs will continue to be handled by her attorney and her accountant.

The petition was "facially insufficient in its hearsay ... and speculative assertions of incapacity," Visitacion-Lewis wrote in her ruling, according to MSNBC.com.

Last week, two nieces and a nephew of the heiress asked the court to intervene on their behalf. They wanted to temporarily bar Clark's New York attorney, Wallace "Wally" Bock, and her certified public accountant, Irving Kamsler, from visiting Clark or managing her fortune, which is estimated at $500 million.

Kamsler has a prior criminal record consisting of a 2008 conviction for attempting to distribute indecent material to teenage girls online. As a result of the conviction, he is a registered sex offender in New York, MSNBC.com reported.

The family members also asked the court to appoint a guardian to oversee Clark's personal and financial affairs to "protect Ms. Clark's person and property, and to prevent the risk of further improper influence by Ms. Clark's advisers," the court filing read.

The Manhattan district attorney's Elder Abuse Unit launched an investigation into Bock's and Kamsler's management of Clark's money last month, after MSNBC.com reported that her friends and staff had not seen the heiress in more than 20 years.

Bock, 78, has denied any mismanagement of the heiress's estate, but does acknowledge that Clark has been generous to him. In court documents, Bock said she had gifted $1.5 million for the development of a security system in Efrat, Israel, where his daughter and her family reside, and she gave his granddaughter a custom-built dollhouse. The dollhouse was valued at $10,000, according to the New York Post.

Following Visitacion-Lewis' ruling, Clark's relatives issued a statement to the media, saying they remain concerned for her well-being and safety.

"We are disappointed that the court did not see fit to appoint an unbiased, independent evaluator to examine her circumstances, particularly in light of the numerous reports that raise serious questions about whether professionals ... are taking advantage of her while at the same time they assert that they are honoring her wishes by keeping her isolated from her family," the family said in the statement, obtained by the New York Daily News.

Bock's attorney, Robert J. Anello, told The Associated Press that he was "grateful the judge took the time to parse through the issue" and has allowed Clark to "maintain her valued privacy."

Kamsler's attorney, Elizabeth Crotty, urged Clark's relations to "respect Ms. Clark's wishes, which includes her privacy," the AP reported.

Clark is the sole surviving child of the late Sen. William Andrews Clark of Montana, who made his immense fortune in copper mining. In addition to a valuable art collection, she is the owner of a 23-acre oceanfront property in Santa Barbara, Calif., as well as properties in Connecticut and New York City.

For the past 20 years, Clark has lived at Beth Israel Medical Center. According to family members, she had not visited any of her estates in decades.

Neither Bock nor Kamsler has been accused of any crime in connection with the handling of Clark's finances.

It remains unclear whether Clark's family members will appeal the judge's ruling.