The warring beneficiaries of late copper heiress Huguette Clark’s $300 million fortune reached a tentative settlement Friday, with her distant relatives getting $34 million while her long-term nurse would have to return $5 million and a $1.7 million doll collection to the estate.
A source hailed the deal as “a victory for the family.”
Clark’s attorney and accountant, who engineered her second, disputed will, signed by the guiding hand of her nurse, got zilch in the agreement.
“They’re getting kicked to the curb,” the source said.
Lawyers involved in the case, including those repping Clark’s attorney, would receive a whopping $24.5 million.
NBC News posted a copy of the proposed agreement late Friday night.
Clark — the eccentric, doll-obsessed daughter of the copper king and former US Sen. William Clark — was 104 when she died in May 2011.
Two wills, both written in 2005 when Clark was 99, are the subject of a court battle over her estate. The first named only her nurse, Hadassah Peri, and the remainder of her wealth went to family members by default. Peri will now have to return $5 million of the $30 million she had received as gifts while Clark was living as well as her employer’s prized doll collection.
The second will included a large bequest for a foundation to be established at Clark’s Santa Barbara estate, as well as money for her attorney, accountant and a pricey painting for the Corcoran art gallery.
A $1 million gift to Beth Israel Hospital, where the reclusive heiress was secluded for the last 20 years of her life, remains intact with the tentative deal.
Clark’s relatives, spread across the United States and Europe, criticized the hospital for repeatedly milking their big-bucks patient for donations.
But many of Clark’s relatives never even met her.
The agreement also will create the foundation at Clark’s $85 million California estate Bellosguardo, memorializing her love for the arts.
“This is a big win for charity,” a second person involved in the negotiations told The Post.
Clark’s attorney, Wallace Bock, who originally got $500,000 in the second, contested will, receives nothing from the settlement. But his attorney, from the large law firm Holland & Knight will win $11.5 million in fees.
John Morken, of Farrell & Fritz, the attorney representing 19 of Clark’s living relatives will also get $11.5 million. Peri’s lawyer will get $1.5 million.
The agreement has to be approved by Manhattan Surrogate’s Court Judge Nora Anderson.
The first source said there are “more hurdles” to clear before a deal is inked.
A final settlement would avoid paying out millions more from the estate to attorneys for some 12 firms involved in the case.