Ruth Lilly Guardianship
Last June I blogged about probate litigation involving the widow of a former Eli Lilly executive, Robert E. Koffenberger -- the link is here. Now there's word of a probate (guardianship) case involving Eli Lilly's sole surviving great-grandchild, Ruth Lilly (who is 90). This article discusses in more detail, although the way it's written raises a lot of questions:
1. The article says that "the family of Ruth Lilly wants the court to give them supervision over all of her affairs," but it also notes that Ms. Lilly has been "under court supervision for the handling of her financial affairs" since 1981. It goes on to say that the petition filed by Ms. Lilly's heirs "proposes to give oversight for Lilly's personal and medical decisions to a niece and nephew Ted Lilly." Does that mean Ms. Lilly currently doesn't have a guardian of the person (to make health care decisions and the like)?
2. It's unclear from the article who is currently acting as the guardian of Ms. Lilly's estate. According to the article:
Pictures from a 1998 Eyewitness News investigation showed a frail Lilly who sources said had only limited awareness of her circumstances at the time. The investigation documented questionable spending for things like lavish overseas trips for large groups.
A resulting court review prompted an acknowledgement of lax oversight by National City Bank and a reduction in fees by both the bank and Lilly's personal attorney, Tom Ewbank.
Was National City Bank acting as guardian of the estate? Was Mr. Ewbank? I assume it was Mr. Ewbank, since he evidently consented to the above petition, but then why did National City Bank have any duty of oversight regarding Ms. Lilly's finances? And if the guardian of the estate was acting inappropriately in 1998, why weren't they (or he) removed?



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