Court Awards $50M to Widow Over Poor Kids

Oct. 8, 2010— -- The poor children of Panama won't be getting the $50 million estate of an American tycoon after all. After a bitter court battle, Panama's highest court has ruled that the estate of Wilson C. Lucom will instead go to his widow and her politically-connected family.

It's case that has spanned more than four years and the attention of countless lawyers and courts.

Lucom amassed a fortune during his 88 years of life. His holdings include a multimillion dollar Panama ranch called Hacienda Santa Monica and property from Okeechobee, Florida to Palm Desert, California.

The case came down to whether the poor children from Lucom's adopted home of Panama would receive the fortune or his widow Hilda, who was provided for in the will, but contested the bulk of the estate going to the poor.

"His gift to the kids had two equally balanced purposes because he was a poor guy: He came up the hard way, and he really didn't like the way poor kids were treated [in Panama]. And, the other part of Lucom was his alienation from all the rest of her family," says Lucom's tax attorney Richard S. Lehman, an executor of the estate.

But his heirs argued that Lucom didn't like children at all, never talked about helping them, and never intended his money to go to the underprivileged.

Before settling in Panama, Wilson Lucom was a Palm Beach, Florida resident who inherited great wealth after the death of his wife Virginia Willys, the daughter of automotive giant John Willys. The two married 1954 and remained together until her death in 1981.

The following year Lucom would marry Hilda Piza de Arias -- his second or third wife -- the number is unclear since it is rumored that Lucom married at a young age to a woman who would have been his first wife.

In the will, Lucom left Hilda a minimum of $240,000 and the lifetime use of his art and antiques. The largest chunk of his estate -- as much as $50 million -- went to establish a fund that was to aid the poor children of Panama.

"I instruct trustees to find an area where there are children's schools that don't have meals for lunch, and lack the usual needs and those provided by schools where lunch is provided. It is my wish that the directors of schools form groups of volunteers with parents and others, and that they plant with seed provided by the Wilson C. Lucom Trust Fund," the will states.