August 27, 1998 | Read Time: 3 minutes
A proposal to settle a dispute over the will of a wealthy Omaha woman has cleared the way for about $500-million in bequests to non-profit groups in Nebraska and New York.
Mildred Topp Othmer, who died in April, pledged almost her entire estate to charity in a 1988 will. But the will was contested by a niece who said Mrs. Othmer wanted more money to go to her family.
The University of Nebraska at Lincoln and Polytechnic University in New York stand to gain the most from the settlement: about $125-million each. Long Island College Hospital, also in New York, would receive about $100-million, and Planned Parenthood of New York expects to reap approximately $60-million.
The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska voted last week to approve the settlement. And Planned Parenthood of New York said last week that it planned to sign the agreement soon. The bequest will be equal to about three times Planned Parenthood’s annual budget.
Lawyers declined to reveal the exact terms of the agreement because some parties had yet to give final approval, but they said that all disputes surrounding Mrs. Othmer’s will have been resolved. The settlement also allows for the disbursement of the remaining assets from the estate of her late husband, Donald Othmer, worth more than $200-million.
Mary D. Seina, Mrs. Othmer’s niece, petitioned the County Court of Douglas County, Neb., in April asking for the will to be revoked. Ms. Seina had taken care of her aunt in the last years of her life, when she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Ms. Seina said that in 1995 her aunt retracted the will and wanted more money to go to her family. The charities who were left bequests maintained that Mrs. Othmer’s disease meant that she was incapable of making responsible decisions about where her money should go.
Under the agreement, Ms. Seina stands to receive $19.95-million, with all taxes paid by the estate, according to lawyers. Ms. Seina was left $2-million in the 1988 will. If the will had been revoked, she would have stood to inherit the entire estate because she is Mrs. Othmer’s closest living relative.
“I am pleased that the controversy over my aunt’s will has been settled,” Ms. Seina said in a written statement. “This settlement reflects my aunt’s wishes that her estate be divided among her family, charitable, and educational interests.”
The Othmers made their fortune by investing with the Omaha billionaire financier Warren Buffett, chairman of the investment company Berkshire Hathaway. Mrs. Othmer’s estate contained about 7,500 shares of Berkshire Hathaway, valued as of last week at $540-million.
All of the institutions set to receive a windfall from the end of the legal dispute had ties to the Othmers. Both Mildred and Donald received undergraduate degrees from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and Mr. Othmer was a professor of chemical engineering at Polytechnic University. Mrs. Othmer was a member of the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of New York.
