California Sen. Feinstein seeks more control over her late husband’s trust to pay medical bills

LOS ANGELES — Attorneys for California U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress who has been beset with serious health problems, assert in a court filing that she is being stiffed on payments for “significant” medical bills by a trust created for her benefit by her wealthy late husband.

Trustees for the fund said they were “perplexed” by the filing and they have never denied any disbursement for the 90-year-old Feinstein, who was absent from the Senate for two-and-a-half months this year as she contended with shingles and other complications, including a brief bout of encephalitis.

In the Monday petition in San Francisco Superior Court, attorneys for the Democratic senator and her daughter, Katherine Feinstein, wrote that the longtime lawmaker had built up “significant” medical expenses and sought reimbursement from the marital trust, which was established in 1996 by her husband, investor Richard Blum, who died last year. The senator is the “sole income beneficiary” of the trust, which has assets that include a life insurance policy and its proceeds, the filing says.

Despite Blum’s intent to provide for his wife’s welfare after his death “the purported trustees have refused to make distributions to reimburse Sen. Feinstein’s medical expenses,” they wrote.

Additionally, they said “purported trustees” Mark R. Klein and Marc Scholvinck were not appointed in compliance with terms of the trust. The senator wants to appoint her daughter to manage the fund, which they asked the court to confirm. Katherine Feinstein is Blum’s stepdaughter.

In response, Steven P. Braccini, an attorney for Klein and Scholvinck, said in a statement, “My clients are perplexed by this filing. Richard Blum’s trust has never denied any disbursement to Sen. Feinstein, let alone for medical expenses.”