Assets detailed in disputed $2.7 million will
Webber's estate had $576K in cash and $1.2M in stocks
Geraldine Webber, right, is seen in 2012 signing the disputed will with attorney Gary Holmes in this image taken from video.
Financial documents detailing the value of the estate of the late Geraldine Webber, who signed a 2012 will and trust to leave most of her $2.7 million in assets to Portsmouth Police Sgt. Aaron Goodwin, have been filed with the county probate court.
The accounting of Webber's estate shows that at the time of her death she had $35,711 worth of jewelry, $11,715 in cash and "old coins," $12,499 in a checking account, $102,174 in a savings account, four $100,000 certificates of deposit and a $50,000 CD.
The accounting shows Webber also owned stocks in nine companies, including $861,192 worth of General Electric stock and 4,000 shares of ExxonMobil stock worth $352,000.
Her stocks earned $111,000 between November 2012 and December 2013, according to the accounting filed with the county probate court.
A number of parties allege in court documents that Goodwin exerted undue influence over Webber while she had dementia. It's also alleged that Goodwin helped Webber contact three lawyers in an effort to change her prior will, in which Goodwin was not named a beneficiary, until she found a fourth lawyer who agreed to make the change.
Goodwin denies the allegations.
Recently filed with the county probate court is a "first trust account" of Webber's assets at the time of her death on Dec. 11, 2012, at age 94.
"This is valuable information for the public," said Portsmouth attorney Paul McEachern, who is representing several people named as heirs in Webber's 2009 will, but cut or named as lesser beneficiaries by the last will and trust prepared by Hampton attorney Gary Holmes.
McEachern said the financial information is particularly valuable to Portsmouth residents because Webber's 2009 will designated the city police and fire departments as beneficiaries of one-quarter of Webber's estate, after the sale of her home and assets. In her disputed last will and trust, Webber left the departments each $25,000.
The accounting of Webber's estate values her home on Sagamore Creek at $804,000, while McEachern called that appraisal a "place holder" until the actual value is realized through a sale.
The accounting also includes invoices for more than $100,000 in legal bills submitted to Webber's estate by attorney Gary Holmes and his lawyer Ralph Holmes (no relation). McEachern called the legal fees "extraordinary."
Ralph Holmes said the fees are subject to review and approval by the probate court and that McEachern can object to them, as the case proceeds, if he wishes. Ralph Holmes also confirmed that mediation is being discussed with respect to the case, while declining to disclose specifics.
McEachern said he's unsure if his clients are willing to engage in mediation and that his goal remains to have "a public hearing."
"I stand by my original belief that this is a matter of public corruption," McEachern said. "It stinks."
Also noted in the accounting for Webber's estate is a line item showing that $1,005 was paid to Lyz Boudreaux on April 30, 2013, for her "services, research, preparation and sale of costume jewelry" that belonged to Webber.
Five months earlier, Boudreaux wrote a letter to the editor of the Herald defending Goodwin and criticizing the Herald for its "fact-less 'story'" about the probate court allegations against him.
"You can't find a more honorable young man than officer Aaron Goodwin," Boudreaux wrote in her letter published Nov. 12, 2012. "His ethics and honesty will see him through. We are fortunate to have him as a member of our police department and our community."
Boudreaux could not be reached for comment and when Ralph Holmes was asked about her connection to the estate, he said that as a general rule he doesn't comment to the press about ongoing litigation.
On Feb. 11, a Portsmouth bank executive said during a deposition that she and another bank employee phoned the New Hampshire Bureau of Elderly & Adult Services because they were "concerned" about possible "financial abuse" of Webber by Goodwin.
Goodwin previously provided Seacoast Media Group with two letters from the bureau saying investigations were conducted with regard to allegations that he exploited Webber financially and the bureau determined the allegations were "unfounded." The letters are dated June 12, 2012, and Sept. 19, 2012.
The banker said during her deposition that Webber's "financial capacity" had diminished, that she had lost the keys to her safe deposit box, forgot to cash checks, lost checks and was carrying large amounts of cash.
"She was not making good decisions," said the banker.
On Wednesday, said McEachern, a deposition was taken of Webber's longtime accountant.
Manchester attorney David Eby is contesting Webber's last will and trust on behalf of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Society and The Shriner's Hospital for Children. His clients were each $500,000 beneficiaries under Webber's 2009 will, then named as $80,000 beneficiaries under the 2012 estate plans.
Webber's disabled grandson Brett is being represented by attorney Lisa Bellanti. Webber's only living heir, he was excluded from her 2012 will and trust.
A trial to hear evidence in the dispute over Webber's last will and trust is scheduled for January.
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