Saturday, March 23, 2013

Son Uses Surrogate's Court Proceeding In Effort To Wrestle Control Of Dementia-Stricken Mom's $4M Home Of 45 Years, Then Give Her, Live-In Caretaker (His Brother) The Boot

In New York City, the New York Post reports:
  • “Have you ever seen so many gorgeous blouses?” retired fashion designer Frances Rappaport exclaimed as she sat in her 25th-floor, Central Park South apartment this week, admiring a rack of her colorful silk creations.

    The 95-year-old may soon be stripped of that simple pleasure while in her spectacular home.

    Rappaport’s three sons are battling in court over their dementia-stricken mom’s $4 million co-op off Seventh Avenue, her home for 45 years.

    Michael, 71, the eldest son of late fashion designer David Rappaport and David’s partner-wife, Frances, wants to eject his mom from her three-bedroom spread, according to papers filed in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court.

    But middle son Errol, 68, an unemployed, self-described black sheep, wants to keep Mom in her Central Park digs. “I don’t want to bad-mouth my brother,” Errol said. “I just want justice for my mother.”

    David, who died in 2010, named his sons co-executors of his will. Born in Harlem to Russian Jewish immigrants, David climbed the fashion ladder, taking his multimillion-dollar Italian knitwear enterprise, Damon Creations, public in 1967.

    Frances had her own women’s-wear line, Francesca di Damon. Stars like Lucille Ball coveted her intricate blouses and canary-yellow suits.

    Michael, a real-estate investor, told a judge last week that he’ll put his mother up in his own Upper East Side penthouse until he finds her a rental.

    Errol lives with his mom rent-free and gets a $2,500 monthly stipend while caring for Frances.

    Michael, who declined to comment, is also hitting up his late father’s dwindling estate for $133,000 he claims his parents owe him.

    “The administration of [David’s] estate brings to mind Marcellus in Shakespeare’s play ‘Hamlet,’ ” court-appointed evaluator Demarest Duckworth wrote in a February 2012 report. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”