The sons of a late New York philanthropist are being sued by their sister ‘after transferring their ailing father to a hospital in Baltimore, where they forced him to change his 70 million will dollars to their advantage – while forbidding their mother to see him alone
- Thomas E Hales was transferred to hospital in Baltimore for the last months of his life ‘for the express purpose of getting Mr Hales to change his estate plan document’
- Lianne Hales is now suing her ‘bully’ brothers for access to family books
A New York millionaire was separated from his wife and kept isolated in hospital without cellphones by two of his sons, who caused the philanthropist to change his will in their favor, according to their sister.
Thomas E Hales was moved by his sons, William and Terence Hales, from Westchester to hospital in Baltimore for the final months of his life for the express purpose of getting Mr Hales to amend his estate plan document,’ according to a lawsuit filed by Lianne Hales.
Ms Hales alleges her brothers behaved like ‘bullies’, forbidding their mother Alice from visiting her husband of 60 years alone, ‘relegating her to a chair in the corner of his hospital room’.
The lawsuit also claims Alice was barred from using a private jet to Baltimore due to cost concerns – and was ordered to make the trip by car instead.
Liane alleges the couple have used “financial threats and coercion to intimidate and punish…anyone…who raises questions or requests information” about the family’s money since their father died in 2020.
Hales, who lived with his wife in Westchester, amassed a $70 million fortune investing and growing Union State Bank from around $23 million to $3 billion in assets, before a merger of $575 million with Key Bank in 2007.
Lianne Hales sues her ‘bully’ brothers for access to family books
Thomas and Alice Hales were married for 60 years before the millionaire’s death in 2020
When his health deteriorated in 2015, William and Terence falsely claimed their father’s medication needed to be ‘adjusted’ and transferred him to a Baltimore hospital, court documents show.
Once in the hospital, William and Terrence would have asked their father to change his will.
The New Testament made them the “de facto” heads of the Hales family assets “with extensive levels of control and power” despite generating “zero” of family wealth.
The sons also changed Hales’ state residence from New York to Maryland in order to avoid New York state property taxes upon his death, Ms Hales claims.
William and Terence asked Hales to change his state of residence, apply for a driver’s license and register to vote ‘even though he lacked the physical or mental capacity to do so’, he says. She.
“The fact that Mr. Hales – a titan of the industry and a wonderful, likeable man – was denied his own mobile phone so he could talk to his wife, friends and family in private without [the brothers’] involvement, control and oversight speaks volumes,” the Manhattan Supreme Court filing states.
Mrs. Hales is suing her brothers in an attempt to get them to open the books of the Hales Family Foundation and the individual trusts created for Hales’ six children, she does not contest the new estate documents.
Alice and Thomas earned a reputation as generous philanthropists by spending their “significant wealth” on Hudson Valley institutions such as Iona College and Phelps Hospital.
Liane says in court documents that some of the charitable donations to medical causes were inspired by Mr Hales receiving a double lung transplant in 2007 at the University of Maryland Medical Center, which helped Hales to survive pulmonary fibrosis.
William Hales is accused of moving his father to a Baltimore hospital and denying him a cellphone before his death
Terence Hales seen with his philanthropist father at a fundraiser for pulmonary fibrosis
Lianne Hales was her father’s primary caregiver before he was rushed to hospital at the end of his life
