The husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor is seeking an extension of the $19,000 a month he receives from an escrow account associated with the couple’s Bel Air home so that he can continue paying conservatorship expenses regarding the former actress. In court papers filed Sept. 1 on behalf of Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, lawyer Matthew Kanin said the ailing Gabor “has outlived expectations.” The Hungarian-born Gabor is scheduled to turn 100 years old on Feb. 6. In May 2013, Judge Reva Goetz, who is now retired, approved the sale of the couple’s home for $11 million in an agreement that allowed Gabor to remain there for the time being. The sale will close either 120 days after Gabor dies or in September 2017, whichever comes first.
Last November, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Brenda Penny authorized monthly payments of $19,000 from the home’s escrow account to von Anhalt, who has served as conservator of Gabor’s estate since July 2015. The judge’s order is scheduled to expire Nov. 16.
“That funding needs to continue to flow to (von Anhalt) … through September 2017 … because it is just enough to cover the normal monthly expenses of (Gabor),” Kanin states in his court papers.
The extension is needed to “avoid a budget crisis” for Gabor, according to Kanin’s court papers.
Von Anhalt believes his wife is comfortable in her home and would not want to move because it is familiar to her, according to Kanin’s court papers.
“In order to avoid having to transfer his wife to another location, von Anhalt “is currently in talks with the buyer to extend the agreement for one more year,” Kanin states in his court papers.
The excrow account currently has a balance of more than $315,000, according to Kanin’s court papers. Von Anhalt has about $62,000 in cash on hand and by the end of next year will have to spend more than $50,000 on homeowner’s insurance, property taxes and employment taxes, according to Kanin’s court papers.
A hearing on von Anhalt’s petition is scheduled Oct. 3.
In July, von Anhalt filed a separate petition seeking a $120,000 gift to himself from Gabor’s estate “to maintain (his) standard of living as he enjoyed during his long-term marriage to (Gabor).”
The petition states that prior to becoming ill and incapacitated, Gabor was the “familial breadwinner” who supported von Anhalt financially.
However, in recent years, von Anhalt has “taken no wealth for himself” and his benefits have been confined to the conservatorship providing his lodging and paying his health insurance and automobile expenses, according to the petition. He has provided full-time care for his wife since 2001, the petition states.
The Gabor conservatorship has assets of more than $10 million, according to the petition, which is set for a hearing March 1.
In November 2002, Gabor was involved in a car crash that left her partially paralyzed. She suffered strokes in 2005 and 2007, and in 2010 she fractured her hip and had a hip replacement.
In 2011, Gabor’s right leg was amputated above the knee to save her life from an infection. In February, she was hospitalized after suffering from breathing difficulties.
