Elder Abuse Litigation: Senator Diane Feinstein

NOTE: This video was recorded before Senator Feinstein's death on September 29, 2023. Our best wishes to Senator Feinstein's family.

At 90 years old, Diane Feinstein was the oldest member of the United States Senate. She was the longest serving female senator in US History. She was the widow of the late Richard Blum, whose wealth was estimated to be somewhere around $1 billion. Richard Blum died in February 2022 at the age of 86. Currently, there is a lawsuit within the Feinstein/Blum family regarding his estate, and Senator Feinstein, at the end of her life, was caught up in the middle of it.

Feinstein-Blum Family Background

Senator Feinstein and Richard Blum were married for over 42 years. When they got married, they each had children from prior lives. Senator Feinstein had one daughter, Mr. Blum had three daughters. Together, they had no children.

When planning his estate, Mr. Blum established a revocable living trust. It was set up such that upon his death, if he were to predecease Senator Feinstein, assets would be funded into the Marital Trust. Then, during the life of Senator Feinstein, payments would be made to Senator Feinstein of the interest and possibly principle to some extent. Upon Senator Feinstein’s death, the assets remaining in the trust would distribute to Mr. Blum’s children. Likewise, upon Senator Feinstein’s death, assets in her estate would be paid out to her child.

This is a relatively common arrangement for mixed families - families where there are children from a marriage or life that predates the current marriage. When Mr. Blum died, this is how his estate was administered. Supposedly.

Crux of the Complaint and Litigation

In the complaint brought on behalf of Senator Feinstein, it was alleged that the trustees of the Marital Trust are stalling payments to Senator Feinstein. Notably, Senator Feinstein was not in the best of health, and was 90 years old when the complaint was filed. Also notably, it is important to remember that upon Senator Feinstein’s death, payments to her end - no additional payments are made to her estate. The result of this is that (i) Senator Feinstein was not receiving everything that she was due, and (ii) when Senator Feinstein died, if payments had not been made, then her estate would be smaller than it should be and Senator Feinstein’s daughter would receive less.

The legal claims in the case are breach of fiduciary duty by the trustees. This is the primary, if only issue in the case. The Trustees have made an issue of the fact that the claim was brought by the daughter on behalf of Senator Feinstein under the authority of a durable power of attorney. While much has been said about whether Senator Feinstein is incapacitated, and while this may be an issue related to her ability to carry on her job in the Senate, it is irrelevant to the case. Some powers of attorney - presumably including this one - do not require the principal to be incapacitated for the attorney-in-fact to have authority to act. So … smoke and mirrors.

In any event, if the Trustees have violated their fiduciary duties, they should be held accountable. Elder financial abuse is a terrible thing and unfortunately is all too common. If you have a potential situation of elder financial abuse, please contact Signature Law for a free consultation; if we cannot handle the matter, we know other attorneys who can.