Daughter Shamelessly Tries to Gain Control Over Mother’s Estate

In May 2005, housekeeper June Gordon found Mrs. Cheney on the couch with a broken arm and a urine-drenched nightgown. Mrs. Cheney and her 51-year-old daughter, Diane Wells, got in an argument regarding who owned the apartment they were living in and it got physical. Previously, Wells convinced Mrs. Cheney to purchase massive life insurance policies and pressured her to execute a will, leaving everything to Wells. Wells controlled her mother’s every move.  After this altercation, however, Wells was no longer welcome in apartment 9B. 

On April 26, 2007, Mrs. Cheney died of cancer. Four days later, Wells showed up at the apartment, but her brother refused to let her in. The trial over who owns apartment 9B is set to start in September. “But there will be a daily irony. Diane Wells — back in the apartment at the suggestion of a judge, at least until there is a ruling — will go to court each morning from Apartment 9B.”

William Glaberson, Nightmare in Apt. 9B, N.Y. Times, July 16, 2010.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this to my attention.