Celebrity Estate Lessons – Ernie Harwell

If you listened to New York baseball games during the post-World War II years, you probably know the voice of Ernie Harwell. He started as a commentator for the Class AA Atlanta Crackers, but the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers thought he would be the perfect substitute for Red Barber, the team’s current announcer, who was out sick. So, he traded the team’s catcher to Atlanta in order to bring Ernie to Brooklyn, making this the only known instance of a player being traded for an announcer. Ernie Harwell finally settled in with the Detroit Tigers in 1960 and became their team’s primary announcer for the next forty years.

Ernie Harwell died from cancer in 2009. His open casket was placed in the Tigers’ Comerica Park, where over 10,000 fans filed past paying their respects. He was posthumously awarded the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Broadcasting. His wife, Lulu, and three of his four children were at his bedside when he passed. However, it wasn’t until Lulu passed in 2018 that the details of his estate were made public.

The family’s attorney, Gary Spicer, was named conservator of Lulu in her final years, due to her dementia diagnosis. By the time she died, most of the couple’s money was gone. The children blamed the lawyer, and the lawyer blamed the children. However, in this instance, Spicer may have had a point, since one of the main reasons he was named conservator was that the judge for the case found Lulu vulnerable “to her children’s demands for money.” The judge went on to tell the children, “The gravy train is absolutely over. You will not get one dime. I'm not allowing any gifts, payments, or anything. Go get a job and take care of yourself.”

Ernie died with a Trust in place, naming Spicer and Lulu as co-Trustees. Lulu quickly removed Spicer and appointed another attorney named Thomas Cavanaugh to the position. She also did not let Spicer act as co-executor for her husband’s estate. The ensuing lawsuit detailed how Spicer, Lulu, and Cavanaugh would split Trustee duties. It also limited gifts to the children to $20,000 a year each.

With the dementia diagnosis, full control was given back to Spicer. Cavanaugh himself stated that Lulu was unable to manager her own affairs and that one of the Harwell children was misusing his access as an insurance salesman to take money from his parents’ accounts. Spicer put Lulu in an expensive care home, fulfilling a deathbed promise to Ernie to take care of Lulu until she died. When the children requested that she be moved into a cheaper, Medicare eligible care home, he refused, stating that he wanted to keep her in a familiar environment. At times, he even spent some of his own money to pay for her care. The children never pitched in financially.

Getting your estate planning right is very important. We know it’s hard to figure out and close all the legal loopholes to make sure your assets go where you want them to go after you pass. Luckily, that is our expertise, so if you’re looking for help getting your estate plan ready or dealing with a difficult probate, give us a call and schedule your free consultation.