Despite $300M estate, heiress was cash poor

Two of her Fifth Avenue apartments have sold for a combined $48 million and her jewels were auctioned off at price tags well in to the seven figures, but heiress Huguette Clark was cash-poor towards the end of the her life, court documents cited by the New York Post reveal.

A case brought by Clark’s relatives against the heiress’ aides, who received the majority of her inheritance, show that twice in 2004 her account was overdrawn by $49,000 and $27,000 and that she was “rapidly approaching the point” at whcih there was not enough cash to cover her “regular living expenses,” according to a note written at the time by accountant Irving Kamsler. Those expenses included hefty medical bills, tax liabilities and the lavish gifts — including a starting salary of $375,000 and, later, a $5 million gift — bestowed upon her Philippines-born nurse, who relatives claim manipulated her will.

Kamsler is being investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney and the state Attorney General’s offices of his handling of Clark’s estate as she advanced in age, the Post said. [Post] — Adam Fusfeld