Surprising Bequest Leaves Lawyer, Heirs an Estate of Confusion

Over three decades, even after Lucom left the tony island of Palm Beach to settle into life as an expatriate in his second wife's homeland of Panama, Lehman was the go-to guy in battles the onetime socialite and conservative pundit waged for fun and profit.

Given Lucom's love of a good fight - typified by his belief that the "nuclear option" could solve many of the world's problems - it's not surprising that his death has unleashed a battle of epic proportions.

Adding to the predictability of the battle royale is the sheer size of Lucom's estate: $50 million and counting.

Still, even among lawyers who make their livings from nasty squabbles that erupt when the wealthy die, most agree this is one for the record books.

It is being fought in courts in at least three countries. It involves the heirs of once high-level Panamanian officials. It has spawned not just mere civil lawsuits but criminal charges as well.

Lehman, for instance, early on was accused by Lucom's widow and her children of murdering his longtime client, who he says also became a close friend. While those Panamanian charges were dropped, even now, Lehman can't enter the nation without fear of arrest on charges surrounding his handling of Lucom's estate.

At the root of the ugly dispute is what appears to be a noble bequest: In his will, Lucom left the bulk of his estate - a 7,000-acre oceanfront cattle ranch valued at as much as $50 million - to the poor children of Panama.

Known for funding right-wing political candidates such as former Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and conservative political causes, most notably the watchdog group Accuracy in Media, Lucom never seemed to be a soft touch for long-suffering children, his friends and family members say.

Lehman insists the bequest wasn't out of character.

"He was the kind of guy who didn't like to see people taking (crap), and that's how poor people in Panama are treated," he said.

His widow, Hilda Piza Lucom, disagrees.

"He never talked to me about a foundation for poor children in Panama," the 84-year-old said in a deposition in one of the numerous lawsuits that now swirl around the estate. "He didn't like children."

Her granddaughter, Madelaine Urrutia, also said the bequest seems suspicious.

Uncle Chuck, as she called Lucom, knew of her work on the board of Asociación Pro Niñez Panameña, a organization that helps poor children in Panama. But, she said, despite her requests, he never offered a donation except for one time when he bought $50 worth of raffle tickets for an association benefit.

He was very involved in political groups, particularly those that fought communism, she said. "Children were not a cause for him."

Like his widow and other members of the powerful family that counts two Panamanian presidents on its family tree, Urrutia said she was stunned by Lucom's generous bequest.

"I was surprised," she said. "I never saw that on his mind."

What the family suspects, a suspicion it has made clear through court documents, is that Lehman cooked up the bequest as a way to get his hands on Lucom's millions.

Lawyer vs. heirs

Lehman scoffs at such talk.

He insists that the legal battle he has waged to protect Lucom's wishes to help Panamanian children has cost him nearly $700,000 from his own pocket.

"If I walk away from these kids, I'll walk around for the rest of my life worried that God will strike me dead," he said.

Still, attorneys representing Hilda Lucom say Lehman's actions belie his righteous words.

For instance, although Lucom's will names Lehman, Hilda Lucom and his longtime friend NewsMax magazine founder Christopher Ruddy as trustees, they say Lehman persuaded a Panamanian judge to name him sole trustee of Lucom's lucrative Panamanian estate. He then used the Panamanian court decision to persuade Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John Phillips to issue letters of administration to gain access to Lucom's holdings in Florida, including a $655,000 bank account that Lehman quickly emptied.

Further, they point out that Lehman created a trust fund in St. Kitts and Nevis, a popular spot in the West Indies for people to put money they don't want others to get their hands on. The trust, they say, was created roughly a week before Lucom's death on June 2, 2006.

Although Lucom was gravely ill in the days before he died at age 88, he was lucid, family members and Lehman agree. However, instead of getting Lucom to sign the trust documents, Lehman signed them with a power of attorney and had Ruddy sign them as well.

Attorney Charles Weiss, who represents Hilda Lucom in the Palm Beach County litigation, said to exercise the power of attorney Lehman first had to get two doctors to agree that Lucom was mentally incapable of making such decisions.

Doctors' letters Lehman provided were written two days after he exercised the power of attorney to create the Nevis trust, Weiss said. In addition, the doctors didn't note any mental limitations that would have prevented Lucom from signing the documents himself, listing only the array of medical problems he faced.

Further, although Hilda Lucom and Ruddy were also to serve as trustees of the foundation - set up to administer the estate - within months of Lucom's death, Lehman removed both of them.

"Now, he's the only one in the game," Weiss said of the effect of Lehman's actions.

In a deposition, Lehman said he couldn't remember what legal authority he had to remove Hilda Lucom and Ruddy as trustees, simply saying it was another way to protect Lucom's wishes.

He offered a similar explanation when asked how he spent the $655,000 he took from Lucom's Palm Beach County bank account.

"I can account for every dime I spent," he said.

Hilda Lucom's attorneys counter that Lehman improperly shuffled some of the money into his law firm's account. For instance, in court documents they say, $180,000 was put in Lehman's office account with the notation, "reserve for future Lucom estate expenses." They argue he shouldn't have put money into his office account before the actual expenses were incurred.

In addition, they claim, much of the money was used to pay legal expenses that had nothing to do with Lucom's Florida estate. For instance, they claim he paid nearly $53,000 to hire a Panamanian attorney to represent him on the criminal charges filed against him by Hilda Lucom's family.

Likewise, they claim, he spent tens of thousands of dollars on attorneys to represent him in the battle over Lucom's Panamanian estate and to resolve legal issues in Nevis - neither of which had anything to do with Lucom's Florida estate.

The expense that really galls them, however, is the $32,356 he claims he spent on public relations. They say he can't use estate money to bankroll a publicity campaign to pressure Hilda Lucom and her children to back off.

Lehman says the complaints about his spending - particularly the PR gripes - are laughable. He said he hired a PR firm in Panama to devise an advertising campaign about Lucom's generous bequest to the children of Panama. While one ad appeared in a Panamanian newspaper, the campaign never got off the ground, he said.

He also produced a sophisticated 28-page brochure that he touts on a Web site, titled "A Legal Crisis: Expatriates In Panama." In it, he recounts a story of corrupt lawyers who have circumvented Lucom's will. He said he did it, in part, to anger Hilda Lucom's lawyers and also to attract political attention to his fight. He also has written the U.S. ambassador to Panama to complain of his treatment by the island's legal system and to Panamanian lawmakers as well.

As to the charges of misspent funds, he brushed them off as inconsequential. All of the money - Lucom's assets in Panama and those in Florida - will ultimately end up in the same pot. So, he reasons, it is appropriate to spend Lucom's Florida cash to make sure his wishes are satisfied in Panama. Further, he says, the criminal charges he faced were a direct result of his work on Lucom's behalf. So it makes sense that his late client's money should pay for his defense.

Judge Phillips wasn't so certain.

He appointed an attorney to review how Lehman spent the money and report back to him. The report is expected soon.

In the meantime, however, Phillips ordered Lehman to post a bond for the $655,000 that was in the account.

Lehman did. But, now the bonding company has asked Phillips to terminate the bond, claiming Lehman never told them about the disputes surrounding Lucom's estate.

Suits seem never-ending

Lehman says he is up for the fight.

After all, he says, it isn't the first time he has gone to battle for Lucom.

When Lucom's first wife died in 1981, a similar dispute erupted between Lucom and her children. Lehman says he represented him, and ultimately Lucom got $15 million from the estate of Virginia Willys Lucom, daughter of Toledo auto pioneer John Willys.

In that case as in this one, loved ones weren't cut out of the will. Virginia Lucom left each of her three children $3 million trusts.

In this case, Lucom made sure Hilda Lucom would be well taken care of. He left her his share of their home in Panama City, Panama, and all the furnishings. Further, he set aside $240,000 a year for her care.

He also gave $200,000 a year to Isabel Clark, one of his stepdaughters from his first marriage. He left $1 million to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where he was treated for cancer. An additional $2 million was split among various employees.

The flash point, Lehman insists, is that he gave only token amounts to Hilda Lucom's five children from her three marriages to the late Gilberto Arias. Her on-and-off-again first husband's father, Harmodio, and uncle, Arnulfo, were presidents of Panama during the 1930s and 1940s. Still politically powerful, the family also owns the Panama America, one of the largest newspapers in the country.

That connection prompted Lehman to file suit in Palm Beach County against the Panamanian newspaper for $50 million, claiming the Arias family has used it to print false information about the dispute to ruin his reputation. He also has sued Hilda Lucom in Panama for $50 million for filing more than a dozen criminal charges against him, including a murder charge, claiming he disconnected life-support machines from Lucom. All the charges are false, he says.

Such suits, including ones involving offshore companies, seem never-ending, according to virtually all those involved.

"It's a mess," says Clark, who as a favored stepchild from Lucom's first marriage stands to inherit a lot of money. She said she is remaining on the sidelines to see where, when and if it all ends. But she, like virtually everyone involved, has hired lawyers.

A key decision now rests with the Panamanian Supreme Court.

A lower court reinstated Ruddy and Hilda Lucom as trustees to the estate and also ruled that the Nevis foundation is invalid. Hilda Lucom is also seeking to have Lehman removed and Lucom's will nullified, Lehman said.

Ruddy, who once was one of Lehman's clients, said he is convinced Lucom wanted the money to go to the poor children of Panama.

"There was nothing diabolical in the way he set up his will," Ruddy said, although he believes Lehman mishandled it.

Lehman insists there is nothing evil about his intentions. He said he has contacted charities in Panama and wants to turn the money over to them.

"My goal is to win this thing, carry out my moral obligations, get a nice fee and go home," he said.