Ernie Harwell’s estate drained by family infighting

March 08-- Mar. 8--Former Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell had a Hall of Fame career and a marriage to match.

Friends and strangers alike marveled at the love he and his wife, Lulu, shared for almost 70 years.

But their fairy-tale family included a large dose of heartache, most of it unseen and much of it unseemly.

Oakland County court records show that for years, the couple's four children have been beset by infighting and impatience for their inheritance from parents often unable to say no.

The children point fingers at family lawyers. The lawyers point back with allegations of unpaid bills, missing money and alleged mistreatment of Lulu, who battled dementia for years before dying March 1 at age 99. She was more or less broke.

The turmoil wasn't seen in public, but privately, it weighed heavily on one of Michigan's most beloved couples, said Gary Spicer, the longtime lawyer and friend of Ernie and Lulu.

"It broke their hearts," Spicer said this week."It really affected them, but they couldn't stop it."

The Harwells' eldest son, Bill Harwell, blames Spicer for the problems, saying he used the Harwells for years to boost his own career and then drove a wedge between parents and children.

"He spent all my mom's money," Harwell said, adding that one silver lining of his mother's death was knowing he won't have to deal with Spicer ever again.

Records show litigation over the estate has spanned almost nine years, with seven separate case files, at least eight attorneys, two judges and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

Bill Harwell was the only family member to speak in detail to the Free Press about the case. His brother, Gray Harwell, and one sister, Carolyn Harwell Raley, didn't return messages seeking comment. The other sister, Julie Harwell, refused to answer questions about finances or litigation, but accused Spicer of burying her mother before the children could say goodbye, a charge Spicer denies.

Voice of a legend

Ernie Harwell spent 55 years broadcasting major league baseball, including 42 years as the voice of the Tigers. When he retired in 2002 at age 84, he was a household name across Michigan and beyond. His voice was instantly recognizable on radio and TV.

Spicer, Harwell's longtime agent, helped the veteran broadcaster capitalize on that fame, lining up radio commercials, speaking engagements and a sponsorship deal with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Spicer said that in the final six years of his life, Harwell brought in about $3 million from that kind of work and his wishes were clear.

"He told me on his deathbed, the night before he died, that he wanted me to make sure that Lulu was taken care of," Spicer said. "I promised him that I would take care of her."

Spicer and Lulu Harwell were both named personal representatives on the trust that contained Ernie's assets. Lulu had a separate trust in her own name and some of the couple's assets remained outside either trust.

In his will, Ernie noted that he intended to give his personal representative "the broadest, fullest, most complete power and authority," adding: "It is my very strongest intent that my estate not be subject to supervised court administration."

The Harwells were living at Fox Run, an exclusive retirement community in Novi, when Ernie died there on May 4, 2010.

Their precise net worth at the time is not clear, but court records show that among their assets was a brokerage account containing approximately $500,000, several IRAs, numerous annuities and life insurance policies and a home on Rutledge Crossing in Farmington Hills, where their son Bill lived.

But Bill Harwell said he and his siblings were never comfortable with Spicer.

"After my dad died, I didn't want to just say, 'Gary's out of here,' even though I had my concerns," Harwell said. "But later, she (Lulu) said she didn't need a lawyer any more. She's not a celebrity."

Revolving lawyers

Harwell said Spicer had served a purpose for his father, tending his business ventures, but Lulu Harwell had no need of those services and was uncomfortable with Spicer. Four months after Ernie died, Lulu petitioned the probate court to remove Spicer from the trust that held Ernie's assets.

"She and Gary were cotrustees," Bill Harwell said. "She fired him. It was her idea to not have an attorney. I thought we'd just get a bookkeeper to pay the bills. I did it for a while, but I'm not good at it."

Spicer argued that the children put Lulu up to removing him from the trust because he wouldn't approve disbursements they sought. Court records indicate Lulu Harwell, then 91, was showing some signs of dementia.

In September 2010, Oakland County Probate Judge Daniel O'Brien granted Lulu's request, removing Spicer from the trust and replacing him with another lawyer, Thomas Cavanaugh.

But by May 2012, Cavanaugh was raising concerns similar to those made by Spicer and asked the probate court to appoint him a conservator for Lulu Harwell, giving complete control of her finances.

Cavanaugh wrote that Lulu, then 92, "is unable to manage her property and business affairs because of mental deficiency, confinement, and vulnerability to her children's demands for money," adding that: "Mrs. Harwell has assets that will be wasted or dissipated unless proper management is provided."

Cavanaugh laid out for the court what he said were problems, taking aim at Bill Harwell, who had worked as an insurance and annuity salesman for more than 45 years. Harwell had access to forms allowing clients to take loans, withdrawals and partial surrenders of life insurance policies and annuities and he used them to access his parents' assets, Cavanaugh told the court.

In October 2010, he withdrew $5,000 from an ING annuity and a year later, he did it again, withdrawing $14,800 from a Dearborn National annuity to pay for a new roof on the home owned by his parents where he was living, according to Cavanaugh's pleadings. In December 2011, Harwell accessed another $20,000 from yet another annunity.

"Ms. Harwell received the $20,000 check payable to her from Allianz, she endorsed the reverse side and gave it to Bill Harwell," Cavanugh wrote to the court.

Bill Harwell denies ever improperly accessing his mother's money, but acknowledges that he did cash in annuities. He said he did it to pay his mothers' caregivers who were not being paid by Cavanaugh.

Cavanaugh fired back that he was paying the caregivers fully, except for one: Bill's brother, Gray Harwell, a Florida-based minister, who would stay with his mom and help with her care.

Cavanaugh said in pleadings that Gray Harwell was not just taking care of his mother, he was taking advantage of her as well. Gray Harwell "would not spend any extended time with his mother unless he was compensated as his mother's caregiver," Cavanaugh wrote.

Bill Harwell told the Free Press that his brother couldn't afford to come to Michigan on his own and he needed the compensation to cover his travels.

Gravy train

In early 2012, Gray Harwell "would travel to Michigan and spend about two weeks per month with his mother," Cavanaugh wrote. "Gray Harwell would send bills ... seeking to be paid for the entire time (24 hours x 14 days) that he spent with his mother."

Cavanaugh refused to pay him for more than 17 consecutive hours, saying no other caregivers were being paid for more than 17 hours straight.

At a hearing in April 2012, Cavanaugh told Probate Judge Kathleen Ryan that he'd been approving payments of $15 per hour to Gray Harwell for "most of the time he spends with his own mother."

"I'm not liking what I'm hearing," Ryan said. "Does he have a job, by the way?"

"He does now for two weeks that he's here," Cavanaugh answered.

In May 2012, Ryan vented her frustration.

"I'm going to tell you right now, and this is with no uncertainty, and every single Harwell child needs to listen up and listen good. The gravy train is absolutely over," Ryan said. "You will not get one dime. I'm not allowing any gifts, payments or anything. Go get a job and take care of yourself."

"I am purely appalled that you children would do something like this to the most well-loved and beloved couple in metro Detroit ... this is appalling."

Ryan agreed that Lulu Harwell needed a conservator, but didn't want Cavanaugh because his relationship with the Harwell children had become so acrimonious. She eventually appointed Spicer, noting his long-term relationship with the Harwell family and knowledge of the family business interests.

"So then we were back to Gary Spicer," Bill Harwell said.

Bankruptcies

Bill Harwell had long-term money trouble, which impacted his parents' finances.

In late 2013, he filed for bankruptcy for the third time. He was 69 at the time and listed assets of $19,761 and debts of $2,347,326.

He owed more than $534,000 in federal taxes and another $45,000 in state taxes. He also listed debts to his parents of $750,000, with half being owed to his father's estate and the other half to his mother's trust.

"That was about a debt I created over years and years with my father," Harwell told the Free Press. "It was a debt that he and I knew was never going to be paid back. When I declared bankruptcy to clear up my tax situation, I included that as a charge-off debt.

"My father didn't care about that, he was never going to get that back," he said.

The debt was discharged in bankruptcy court.

Carolyn Harwell Raley and her husband also filed for bankruptcy in 2011.

Bill Harwell said many of the things said about him in probate court are untrue.

"Lawyers can say that in court and then it's part of the record. Some people believe lawyers," Harwell said. "You don't really have a chance to defend yourself. Some people who don't know me will hear that and think, 'Oh, those rotten kids. How did they turn out like that?' But people who know me know I was devoted to my mother."

Harwell blamed Spicer for wasting money. At one point, the family sought to move Lulu into a nursing home that would be cheaper than Fox Run.

Bill Harwell said they found one in Farmington Hills that was clean and nice and cost $175 a day. A long-term care insurance policy he'd sold his parents years before would have covered the cost, he said.

"Spicer said that to put her in a nursing home would have killed her," Harwell said. "So he kept her in Fox Run spending $20,000 a month."

Spicer acknowledged vetoing that decision, calling the nursing home the kids selected a "Medicaid facility" that would not have been able to treat Lulu the way she'd been treated for years.

In December 2012, the three other siblings signed a letter to Fox Run asking that Julie be prevented from visiting their mother. They accused Julie of screaming at Lulu at times and giving her "the silent treatment" at other times, which they considered abuse. Julie would decline invitations to eat meals with Lulu, but would sit at a nearby table with her back to her mother, the siblings wrote.

"Aside from the emotional hurt that is inflicted upon her by Julie, we are worried that our mother may not be able to physically withstand the stress of being the target of our sister's temper tantrums," the three wrote in a Dec. 4, 2012, letter to Fox Run. "Lulu Harwell is a 93-year-old widow requiring around-the-clock care. She has a heart condition and a pacemaker, is on medication to control her high heart rate and her nurse has recently suggested that her blood pressure be monitored on a daily basis."

Bill Harwell said the family was successful in getting their sister banned from the complex.

"Julie is a little bit different from the rest of us," Bill Harwell said. "We're not close to her. She has caused some trouble."

Julie Harwell denied ever mistreating her mother and said her siblings would make those accusations "because they're downright mean."

"I loved my mother and I never treated her wrongly," she said.

She wouldn't discuss the probate case or her family's finances, but lashed out at Spicer for "burying my mom behind our backs without telling us."

Lulu Harwell died on Friday and was buried late the following afternoon.

"At (3:40 p.m.), my sister called me and said the funeral is happening, he is doing this without us," Julie Harwell said. "So, (my husband and I) hurried through our lunch, got out there, we did not see Gary, he must have already left, there was a tractor filling in the dirt where my mom was buried.

"He left us out to bury our mother. He does whatever he wants. He doesn't like any of us."

Spicer denies Julie Harwell's version of the burial, saying he'd discussed it with Carolyn, who didn't object. Robert Gilbert, funeral director at Farmington-based Thayer-Rock Funeral Home, which received Lulu Harwell's body, also said Carolyn approved the burial.

Spicer said said he was fulfilling the wishes of Ernie Harwell, who asked him that there be no public funeral and for Lulu to be buried beside him as soon as possible.

"I did everything exactly as Ernie and Lulu Harwell wanted it," Spicer said.

He blames the children, especially Julie Harwell, for the division in their family.

"Julie Harwell was banned from seeing her mother for inappropriate behavior," Spicer said. "Think about the reasons why Mr. and Mrs. Harwell appointed their friend and lawyer as the only guardian and conservator for such a wonderful lady.

"Four children, and Ernie and I prepaid all expenses for both funerals," Spicer said.

Thomas Payne, a lawyer who drafted the Harwells' trusts and worked on the case with Spicer, said Ernie and Lulu were wonderful people, but the case became one of the most acrimonious he'd seen in 66 years of practicing law.

"These were parents who just couldn't say no to their children," Payne said.

Spicer estimates that the children received at least $3 million from their parents through the years and incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees fighting for more.

For his part, Spicer said that he incurred personal expenses to care for Lulu after the Harwells' money ran out. The care for Lulu at Fox Run, with 24-hour attendants, was costing about $280,000 a year, according to court records.

In a court pleading filed late last year, Spicer said that since the estate had been bled dry, he'd paid more than $543,000 of his own money for Lulu's care, while her children contributed nothing. He also claims another $1.7 million in unbilled services to Lulu over the years.

Spicer told the Free Press he considered his expenditures a personal loan and he did it to make good on his deathbed promise to Ernie Harwell to care for Lulu till the day she died. He hopes to recoup some of his money through the sale of the Harwells' condo at Fox Run, which is valued at about $280,000. But it's unclear how much he'll actually get.

Contact John Wisely: 313-222-6825 or [email protected]. On Twitter @jwisely. Free Press sports editor Chris Thomas contributed to this report.

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