Michael Schiavo didn’t waste any time in claiming her estate. According to records filed in the clerk’s office of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, by 1:35 p.m. on March 31, he had filed a petition for administration of her estate before Pinellas County Probate Court Judge George W. Greer, the same judge who had ordered her death by starvation and dehydration.
Greer didn’t waste any time in signing the order for Schiavo.But the order Greer issued on March 31 at 1:35 p.m. has a major problem. It declares that Michael Schiavo, a resident of Pinellas County, died March 30, 2005. PDF File #3
Not only have the bar associations of West Pasco, Clearwater and St. Petersburg lauded Greer for his alleged professionalism in the case, but Greer claims to be a stickler for the law. However, in the Schiavo case not only couldn’t Greer get the name of the decedent right, but he had the wrong date of death too.
So much for professionalism.
According to the filing submitted by Schiavo attorney Deborah Bushnell, the petitioner has an interest in the estate as the decedent’s husband and he claims to be the sole beneficiary of the estate as surviving spouse.
Bushnell is the attorney who was representing Schiavo in 1997 when he and Judge Mark Shames tried to remove Terri’s feeding tube without notification to her parents, Mary and Bob Schindler Sr. Shames had a prohibited conflict of interest in the case in that the Schindlers had discussed the entire matter with him prior to his ascending the bench when they asked him to represent them in the guardianship case against Michael Schiavo.
The March 31 estate filing says that Michael Schiavo is listed as the sole beneficiary in the State of Florida to serve as personal representative because he is the decedent's husband and heir at law. With such an immediate claim for her estate submitted only hours after her death by judicial decree, there seems little room for speculation why Michael Schiavo was not willing to divorce Terri.
He claims that the approximate value of assets in the estate is less than $25,000 and that the estate is not required to file a federal estate tax return. SEE PDF However, according to financial planners and public records, it appears that the estate of Terri Schindler-Schiavo could be closer to $1 million rather than the $25,000 Michael Schiavo claims it is.
A sum of $1.4 million was awarded to Terri Schiavo in a medical malpractice suit for her long-term care and rehabilitation in 1993 and $630,000 to Michael Schiavo for his loss of consortium. The jury awarded that money based on estimates that Terri would live for another 50 years. After attorneys’ fees, Terri’s award was reduced to $750,000 and Michael received $300,000. The court established a trust fund for Terri with Southtrust Bank as the guardian and independent trustee.
The money, $750,000 was invested in blue chip stocks---Coca-Cola, Walt Disney and Proctor and Gamble, corporate and U.S. Treasury Bonds and a money market account. In April, 1993, the trust fund was estimated at $776.254 and a financial planner estimated that if the principal was not touched, the fund would generate an annual income of at least $70,000 which would have easily paid for Terri’s care and rehabilitation. However, virtually as soon as Michael received the insurance money, he ordered all rehabilitation and therapy for Terri stopped and placed a do not resuscitate order in her file. Thereafter, he requested and received court permission to use the money in Terri’s trust fund to pay attorneys Bushnell, George Felos, Hamden Baskin III and others to obtain court approval to kill his wife and collect her estate.
According to a financial planner and a stock broker contacted by The Empire Journal, if the $750,000 was invested equally in the three companies in 1993, the total value of the portfolio, minus deductions, would currently be $2.8 million. Even if lawyers’ fees and other expenses were $1 million, a high estimate, there would still be well over a million dollars in the trust fund for Michael Schiavo to claim------far more than the $25,000 he and Bushnell say exists.
1993 to 2005 investment return:
Coca-Cola - $250K -17 to 41- 2.41X return
Walt Disney - $250K - 12 to 28 - 2.33X return
Proctor & Gamble - $250K - 8 to 52 - 6.5X return
KO - $602,500
DIS - $582,500
PG - $1,625,000
$2.81 million
$2.81 million
Bushnell told the Associated Press in April that she has been paid $80,309 since becoming involved in the case and Bushnell claimed that euthanasia advocate George Felos has only been paid $348,434. However, court documents dispute that.
Felos has reportedly received over $550,000, which has elicited charges that he is perpetuating the case for financial gain. According to the last accounting made public, for the period of March, 1998 when he was first hired until September, 2001, Felos was reportedly paid $307,188. Former attorney Deborah Bushnell was paid $49,958 and there were four other attorneys, two representing Michael Schiavo and two court-appointed attorneys in the matter.
It had been claimed by that June, 2001, the trust money was down to $350,000 and Felos had claimed earlier this year than less than $50,000 remained.In 2002, Felos and Schiavo had successfully petitioned Greer for Terri to be placed on Medicaid. The certification engineered by Felos and Schiavo for Terri to enter Woodside Hospice of Hospice of Florida Suncoast for Medicare reimbursement was done improperly in that she was not terminal and two doctors did not sign as required, therefore making her ineligible for hospice care and Medicare. Felos was a member of the hospice board of directors at the time.
Felos and Bushnell claim that they have not been paid since 2002, at least through Terri’s trust fund. Felos has admitted that the American Civil Liberties Union has helped to underwrite the cost of Michael Schiavo’s quest to kill his wife.
At Schiavo’s request, Greer sealed all financial billings from the attorneys but payments from the fund are public record. According to those public records, by February, 2002, Felos had received $352,211 from Terri’s fund.
No comments:
Post a Comment