Derzon sons win estate fight

Derzon sons win estate fight


By Cary Spivak of the Journal Sentinel

Aug. 22, 2012

Most of the $3 million estate that includes the David Derzon Coin Co. will go to the two sons of the founder, a Milwaukee County judge ordered Wednesday in a decision that sharply criticized lawyers for the woman who took control of the business after the founder and his wife died.



The ruling means the Derzon Coin store in West Allis - a longstanding business worth at least $1 million - and the rest of the assets owned by David Derzon's late widow, Rebecca, will be split between Alan and Mark Derzon and the family of Paul Johnson, a half-brother of Rebecca Derzon.



The Derzon sons, both of whom are lawyers, will receive 60% of the estate - the amount set in Rebecca Derzon's original will. She had changed that will in the eight months between the 2007 death of David Derzon at age 83 and her own 2008 death at age 59.



The rewritten will had given 75% of the business to Lori Laatsch - Rebecca Derzon's half-sister, who had gone decades without seeing Rebecca until becoming close to her when David Derzon was being treated for brain cancer in 2006 - and the remainder to Diane Mehalko, a friend of Laatsch's and longtime employee of the coin store. Judge Jane Carroll's ruling cuts out both Laatsch and Mehalko. They were ordered to immediately relinquish the keys to the business and to luxury cars owned by the business that the women drove. Both women were banned from the Derzon Coin store, at 2069 S.108th St.



Kevin Demet, attorney for the Derzons and Johnson, said an additional hearing is needed to reinstate the original will that split the estate between the Derzons and Johnson's family. Johnson's inheritance had been dramatically cut by the rewritten will.



The now-repudiated March 2008 version of the will, prepared by attorney John Remmers, had the word "draft" stamped on its signature page - a stamp that doesn't automatically void the document, the judge said during Wednesday's 10-minute hearing. But she added in her written ruling that the stamp did "raise other questions, such as how it came to be there."



The judge wrote that the explanation by Remmers and his staff for why the will was stamped draft was "unsatisfactory and incredible."



After Wednesday's hearing adjourned, Laatsch sat sobbing next to her lawyer, F. Brian McElligott. She declined to comment, as did McElligott, who told a reporter to "get out of my face." During the hearing, McElligott, who represented Laatsch in the probate hearings but was not involved in redrafting the will, said he would appeal the decision.



Meanwhile, Alan and Mark Derzon were celebrating in the courtroom with their lawyers and family members, including seven of Alan Derzon's 13 children.



"This is who they were taking from so they could drive luxury cars - my kids' college funds," Alan Derzon said, pointing to his family in the gallery.



The Derzon sons and Johnson argued that Laatsch improperly convinced Rebecca Derzon to rewrite her will.



Carroll agreed, noting that the pressure came during a time when Rebecca Derzon was depressed and abusing drugs and alcohol, Carroll said.



"The appearance of Lori Laatsch . . . was sudden," Carroll said, rejecting Laatsch's testimony that the half-sisters were in regular contact since 1997.



Alan Derzon had testified that Laatsch's first appearance to the family took place in a hospital waiting room while his father was undergoing brain surgery in December 2006.



In her ruling, Carroll lashed out at Laatsch as well as at Remmers' Waukesha law firm, Cramer, Multhauf & Hammes, for their actions during the bitter court fight. The court removed Laatsch as trustee of the estate and the Cramer law firm as her attorney in March 2010.



"Documents were altered or destroyed for the purpose of hiding information from the Derzon sons, who were making inquiries for years beginning immediately after Rebecca's death," Carroll wrote in her 29-page opinion. "The length of the delay, and the number of irregularities in the documents provided, establish that Lori Laatsch and her attorneys had something to hide; their motives are suspect."



Several court orders were issued to compel Laatsch and the Cramer lawyers to turn over records.



"The evidence supports a finding that the (Cramer law firm) engaged in spoliation of the evidence, and sanctions, therefore, are appropriate," the judge wrote.



Calls and emails to the Cramer law firm were not returned Wednesday.





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