The trustees of the estate of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s late husband questioned her capabilities, the involvement of her daughter in her legal affairs and her request for nearly $170,000 to pay her medical bills in a new court filing Wednesday.
The latest filing, a response to a July lawsuit filed by Feinstein’s daughter Katherine Feinstein on the senator’s behalf, addresses the claim that Feinstein has been unable to access any of her late husband’s assets to pay for her “significant medical expenses” following a serious bout of shingles.
While the trustees, Michael Klein and Marc Scholvinck, previously told the Chronicle via their attorney Steven Braccini they have “never denied any disbursement to Senator Feinstein,” they acknowledged in the new filing that they haven’t yet paid the expenses as she requested. Klein and Scholvinck were longtime business associates of Feinstein’s late husband, Dick Blum.
The two trustees claimed that Katherine Feinstein’s allegation of their refusal to pay Feinstein’s medical expenses are “utterly irrelevant” and designed “to create a media spectacle and distract” from the true purpose of the lawsuit, a disagreement over who the legitimate trustees are.
Katherine Feinstein alleged in the July lawsuit that the two people acting as trustees, Klein and Scholvinck, were not properly appointed to the positions by Blum or Feinstein after Blum’s death.
Klein and Scholvink argued they were properly appointed by then-acting trustee George Pavlov. They also say Feinstein didn’t have the authority to appoint her daughter as a trustee because it would require agreement from the majority of the adult income beneficiaries and the guardians of all minor income beneficiaries.
“It is unclear how Senator Feinstein — a sitting United States Senator — supposedly has the capacity to appoint a trustee, yet seemingly cannot file the Petition in her own name,” they said in the Wednesday filing.
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.
Feinstein’s spokesperson Adam Russell told the Chronicle that there will be no comment on the “private legal matter.”
Feinstein’s ability to access Blum’s assets has been a point of contention in three lawsuits she filed in June, July and August against the co-trustees of his estate.
The trustees said Feinstein asked in June for $169,055.15 to pay her medical expenses and $9,166 to pay the monthly salary for her security guard and caretaker. They said the trust only made $9,000 in income last year, and that paying those expenses would require taking from the principal amount. Blum was reportedly a billionaire at the time of his death.
The trustees told Feinstein in March that she had not received any funds because Blum’s estate lacked liquidity and was still sorting out his large estate tax liability, according to Feinstein’s August lawsuit and Klein’s response to the June lawsuit.
Klein and Scholvinck argued that they aren’t required to automatically distribute from the principal amount and “have been analyzing Senator Feinstein’s other sources of income and assets to determine whether they can make such a distribution.” They said Feinstein receives $1 million per year and has a net worth of $50 million.
“The Co-Trustees are required to take into consideration Senator Feinstein’s ‘income and means of support’ from other sources in determining whether a distribution is necessary for her health, education, support, or maintenance,” they said.
They said Katherine Feinstein filed suit before they could come to a decision.
A hearing for the case is scheduled for Sept. 5 in San Francisco Superior Court.
Reach Shira Stein: [email protected]; Twitter: @shiramstein
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