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Is 9/11 Mom Running Amok?
By Stephanie Saul
Staff Writer
January 28, 2004, 10:17 PM EST
As the sole heir of deceased World Trade Center firefighter William Lake, 9-year-old Kyler Lake received a small fortune in charity funds and death benefits.
How that money is being spent is at the heart of a vitriolic court battle, the longest-running and most hotly contested Sept. 11 case in Kings County Surrogate's Court.
Kyler's aunt and his court-appointed advocate claim the boy's mother — Lake's ex-wife Dorothy Lake — has spent so recklessly, nothing will be left by the time he grows up.
"This is a case of somebody running amok," said Kyler's aunt, Ruth Elder of Staten Island, who is Lake's sister and the executor of his estate.
A lawyer for Dorothy Lake says Lake is an excellent mother who knows what is best for her son and that Elder and others are intruding.
"I just think it's the height of gall for some people to say that 'I know better than the mother,'" said the lawyer, Larry Kelly of Setauket.
The settling of dozens of the 2,976 estates of Sept. 11 victims have devolved into angry family disputes. Often, children are caught in the middle.
Some of the disputes center on the intended use of the millions of dollars in charity money, much of it unrestricted, that flooded to the families of Sept. 11 victims.
In this case, some charities made out their checks to Dorothy Lake, and she contends the funds were meant for her as well as for Kyler.
The Lake case is apparently the only remaining Sept. 11 probate case of 242 filed in Brooklyn.
Court documents show that between Oct. 19, 2001, and Oct. 24, 2002, Dorothy Lake and Kyler received $1,377,095 in charity and survivor benefits and spent $812,935.
A large chunk of the money, $299,000, went for a down payment on a $569,000 Westhampton home, where the Lakes moved from Bay Ridge after Sept. 11.
Lake subsequently refinanced her $300,000 mortgage, increasing it to $322,000, and took out a $105,000 revolving line of credit, according to mortgage records.
Among the other expenditures, according to court records:
<$31,166 for a kid's electric Range Rover, a replica firehouse and other items for Kyler's room, including an autographed Chicago Bulls poster.
<$12,615 in clothes for Kyler.
<$12,706 in entertainment for Kyler.
<$6,440 for a birthday and First Communion party complete with a magician, balloons, music, a cake and a trampoline.
<$5,121 for pets.
<$188,106 in home improvements.
<$16,898 in hardware and appliances.
<$166,127 in unspecified miscellaneous expenditures.
"At this rate, it is submitted that substantially all the funds will be expended by the time the child reaches majority," wrote the child's court-appointed advocate, who accused Dorothy Lake of "converting" her son's funds for her own use.
The advocate, James Cahill Jr. of Brooklyn, declined to comment.
An updated accounting is due this week.
Dorothy Lake declined to comment.
William Lake, 44, of Brooklyn, was a decorated member of the Fire Department's Rescue 2 unit. His will left his Harley-Davidson to a brother, FDNY Capt. Brian Lake. Kyler got everything else. Brian was named executor.
Dorothy Lake, who had custody of Kyler, said she and William were reconciling following their 1998 divorce, questioned the validity of her ex-husband's will and challenged Brian Lake's appointment as executor.
In the ugly court battle that ensued, the two sides traded accusations but ultimately reached a compromise. Elder was named executor.
But the fight did not end there.
Kings County Surrogate Michael Feinberg barred Dorothy Lake in May from spending money from seven accounts totaling $722,712 without court permission.
And as her expenses mounted, Kyler's court-appointed advocate moved last fall to have a restriction placed on Lake's home barring its sale.
Now, Dorothy Lake is challenging Elder's status as Kyler's personal representative before the federal victim's compensation fund, from which he still stands to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Meanwhile, the lawyer for Elder, Michael Petersen of Brooklyn, questions whether Dorothy Lake should be driving a Mercedes SUV.
"The boy needs a car, but maybe a nice Camry wagon would do," he said.
By Stephanie Saul
Staff Writer
January 28, 2004, 10:17 PM EST
As the sole heir of deceased World Trade Center firefighter William Lake, 9-year-old Kyler Lake received a small fortune in charity funds and death benefits.
How that money is being spent is at the heart of a vitriolic court battle, the longest-running and most hotly contested Sept. 11 case in Kings County Surrogate's Court.
Kyler's aunt and his court-appointed advocate claim the boy's mother — Lake's ex-wife Dorothy Lake — has spent so recklessly, nothing will be left by the time he grows up.
"This is a case of somebody running amok," said Kyler's aunt, Ruth Elder of Staten Island, who is Lake's sister and the executor of his estate.
A lawyer for Dorothy Lake says Lake is an excellent mother who knows what is best for her son and that Elder and others are intruding.
"I just think it's the height of gall for some people to say that 'I know better than the mother,'" said the lawyer, Larry Kelly of Setauket.
The settling of dozens of the 2,976 estates of Sept. 11 victims have devolved into angry family disputes. Often, children are caught in the middle.
Some of the disputes center on the intended use of the millions of dollars in charity money, much of it unrestricted, that flooded to the families of Sept. 11 victims.
In this case, some charities made out their checks to Dorothy Lake, and she contends the funds were meant for her as well as for Kyler.
The Lake case is apparently the only remaining Sept. 11 probate case of 242 filed in Brooklyn.
Court documents show that between Oct. 19, 2001, and Oct. 24, 2002, Dorothy Lake and Kyler received $1,377,095 in charity and survivor benefits and spent $812,935.
A large chunk of the money, $299,000, went for a down payment on a $569,000 Westhampton home, where the Lakes moved from Bay Ridge after Sept. 11.
Lake subsequently refinanced her $300,000 mortgage, increasing it to $322,000, and took out a $105,000 revolving line of credit, according to mortgage records.
Among the other expenditures, according to court records:
<$31,166 for a kid's electric Range Rover, a replica firehouse and other items for Kyler's room, including an autographed Chicago Bulls poster.
<$12,615 in clothes for Kyler.
<$12,706 in entertainment for Kyler.
<$6,440 for a birthday and First Communion party complete with a magician, balloons, music, a cake and a trampoline.
<$5,121 for pets.
<$188,106 in home improvements.
<$16,898 in hardware and appliances.
<$166,127 in unspecified miscellaneous expenditures.
"At this rate, it is submitted that substantially all the funds will be expended by the time the child reaches majority," wrote the child's court-appointed advocate, who accused Dorothy Lake of "converting" her son's funds for her own use.
The advocate, James Cahill Jr. of Brooklyn, declined to comment.
An updated accounting is due this week.
Dorothy Lake declined to comment.
William Lake, 44, of Brooklyn, was a decorated member of the Fire Department's Rescue 2 unit. His will left his Harley-Davidson to a brother, FDNY Capt. Brian Lake. Kyler got everything else. Brian was named executor.
Dorothy Lake, who had custody of Kyler, said she and William were reconciling following their 1998 divorce, questioned the validity of her ex-husband's will and challenged Brian Lake's appointment as executor.
In the ugly court battle that ensued, the two sides traded accusations but ultimately reached a compromise. Elder was named executor.
But the fight did not end there.
Kings County Surrogate Michael Feinberg barred Dorothy Lake in May from spending money from seven accounts totaling $722,712 without court permission.
And as her expenses mounted, Kyler's court-appointed advocate moved last fall to have a restriction placed on Lake's home barring its sale.
Now, Dorothy Lake is challenging Elder's status as Kyler's personal representative before the federal victim's compensation fund, from which he still stands to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Meanwhile, the lawyer for Elder, Michael Petersen of Brooklyn, questions whether Dorothy Lake should be driving a Mercedes SUV.
"The boy needs a car, but maybe a nice Camry wagon would do," he said.
