Feinstein's Daughter Alleges Elder Abuse in Lawsuit

The daughter of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has filed a lawsuit accusing the trustees of her mother's late husband's estate of financial elder abuse, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Katherine Feinstein, who has limited durable power of attorney over her mother, filed the lawsuit on her mother's behalf earlier this month. It accuses Michael Klein, Marc Scholvinck, and Verett Mims, the trustees of estate of the senator's late husband, Richard Blum, of "financial elder abuse" and asks to remove them as trustees.

The lawsuit states: "Although Blum died more than a year and one-half ago, the Trustees have still neither funded the Marital Trust nor made any of the required income distributions to Senator Feinstein," who "is the sole beneficiary during her lifetime."

In addition, it contends: "The Trustees have either refused or ignored all of Petitioner's requests" for information such as a copy of a Blum estate tax return. "In an act of hostility and retribution, one Trustee has attempted to interfere with the administration of another trust of which Senator Feinstein is a beneficiary, but he is not the trustee."

Steven Braccini, who represents two of the trustees, previously told the Chronicle that his clients "never denied any disbursement to Senator Feinstein."

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