A judge ruled Wednesday that the husband of the late Zsa Zsa Gabor can temporarily remain in the former couple’s Bel Air residence after the May 2 scheduled turnover date to the buyers, giving him time to be able to afford to eventually move elsewhere.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Clifford Klein granted Frederic Prinz von Anhalt’s petition for modifications in the sale of the home where Gabor died Dec. 18 of cardiac arrest, about a month and a half shy of her 100th birthday.
“Currently, the terms … give (von Anhalt) just (over) four months after the death of his wife to vacate their marital abode,” the petition stated. “(Von Anhalt) is still grieving and also does not have anyplace else to go. This is not realistic.”
Von Anhalt will not have enough money to buy or lease a new residence until after escrow closes on the home, according to the petition.
In May 2013, Judge Reva Goetz, who is now retired, approved the sale of the couple’s home for $11 million in a deal that allowed Gabor to remain there for the time being. The buyer is identified in the petition as a company, 1001 Sky View LLC.
The petition states that under the agreement between von Anhalt and the buyers, the home’s purchase price would be reduced to $10.7 million and von Anhalt would lease the property for $1,000 a month for up to six months. He will still have to turn over title to the home on May 2, when escrow closes, according to the petition.
The home also will now be an asset of the Gabor trust rather than the conservatorship, which will ease the tax consequences, according to the petition. Von Anhalt has served as conservator of Gabor’s estate since July 2015.
In a lighter moment, the judge asked von Anhalt how long he and Gabor were married. After von Anhalt replied that they were wed for more than three decades, the judge said, “Well, you’re obviously the one she waited to find.”
Klein then asked, “She had a few before you, didn’t she?”
Von Anhalt replied that Gabor was married eight previous times.
Klein then said his father represented Gabor in some of her business affairs in the 1950s and 1960s.
Von Anhalt answered in jest, “If you would have told my wife that she would have said she wasn’t born back then.”
Asked outside the courtroom if life has been difficult since his wife’s death, von Anhalt said, “Of course it has. We were together 35 years and married for 31 years.”
