FAMILY FEUD

Feinstein Accuses Trustees of Late Husband’s Estate of Elder Abuse

The complaint alleges that the co-trustees have stonewalled her requests to access the estate’s assets.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf on Sen. Dianne Feinstein accuses the three co-trustees of her late husband’s estate of financial elder abuse, alleging the trio wrongfully withheld funds to which she is entitled. The 140-page suit, first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, seeks to “suspend and remove” the co-trustees, claiming that they have refused to respond to Feinstein’s requests to access the assets of her husband, Richard Blum, who died last year as a reported billionaire. An attorney representing two of the trustees told the Chronicle they have “never denied any disbursements” to Feinstein. The suit is the third filed by Feinstein in as many months in an escalating battle over Blum’s estate. In a July complaint, Feinstein alleged that the trustees deprived her of funds to pay for “significant medical expenses” after she was hospitalized with shingles earlier this year. The latest suit was filed by Feinstein’s daughter, who holds power of attorney over the 90-year-old lawmaker. A spokesperson for Feinstein declined to comment to the Chronicle on a “private legal matter.”