US News

LOCKED-OUT SON SUES UJA IN HEIR WAR

A Long Island woman willed the United Jewish Appeal her million-dollar home – but that doesn’t mean the charity can change the locks before her son can get her stuff, a lawsuit complains.

The son, Sandy Horowitz, says the “ungrateful” UJA illegally broke into his late mother’s home, changed the locks and blocked access to more than $100,000 worth of art, antiques and other valuable items inside.

A Mineola Supreme Court justice issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the UJA from disturbing the contents of Muriel Horowitz’s home.

The woman left the charity the home – a sprawling ranch in Great Neck in the exclusive Saddle Rock enclave with million-dollar views of the Long Island Sound.

The court order also forbids the philanthropic organization from denying the son access to the home. A hearing was ordered for March 1.

Horowitz, his mother’s only heir, was appointed executor of the estate last summer after she died at her Florida home in March.

He hired a woman to conduct an estate sale of his mother’s belongings. But when she went to the house a few weeks ago, she couldn’t open the house with his mother’s keys. The UJA, he said, had changed the locks.

“I think it’s just totally inexcusable. I felt violated, like any person would,” Horowitz said. “This is certainly not the way to run a charitable organization. I know my mom would have been incredibly horrified by their actions.”

Horowitz said he became angry when the UJA wrote him a “most insulting” letter threatening to empty the house and store the contents elsewhere.

His attorney, Chris Murray, told him a UJA lawyer said the organization believed it should charge a storage fee for keeping the belongings in the house.

“That was the last straw,” Murray said. “It’s very high-handed. It’s also illegal. The guy was in the process of arranging an estate sale when they broke in and changed the locks. Basically, they felt he was taking too long.”

The lawsuit asks for reimbursement of $3,000 in legal costs.

UJA lawyer Ellen Zimmerman declined to comment.