The children of a prominent business tycoon have accused their stepmom of siphoning off their inheritance as their father battled Alzheimer’s disease, explosive court documents reveal.
The descendants of David ‘Jim’ Judelson, former president of Gulf & Western, became embroiled in a bitter legal battle with his second wife almost immediately after their father’s death in 2018.
Paul, Jeaneane and Roy Judelson told the Wall Street Journal their stepmom Eva Gayer burned through around $30 million of their father’s money by taking advantage of their father’s depression, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diagnoses. Gayer has denied manipulating her husband.
Judelson died in his native New York City at the age of 89, two weeks after hitting his head during a fall.
He was married to his former banker Gayer, who is 17 years his junior, at the time and who Roy described as a ‘parasitic grifter’ in his stinging affidavit.
Judelson’s kids claimed in affidavits, seen by the Daily Mail, that in the years leading to his death, Gayer held an unusual sway over their father, allegedly controlling access to him and even sending emails on his behalf.
‘Eva worked on my father for years and years’, Roy Judelson told the The Wall Street Journal who spoke with family members and Judelson’s associates at length.
David ‘Jim’ Judelson, former president of Gulf & Western, died in 2018 at the age of 89 two weeks after hitting his head during a fall
Gayer married Judelson in 2015, four years after the death of his wife-of-57 years Maria.
The children claimed in their filings that they were uneasy with how much time Gayer and her then-husband Jonas, who were still married in the early years of their relationship with their father, spent with their dad.
By 2014 however, Judelson was openly referring to Gayer as his life partner and would brush off concerns from his children about the couple and his memory which was progressively slipping.
Roy Judelson said in an affidavit that in 2015, Eva pressured the children’s father into making them sign a document agreeing not to contest millions in gifts he had given her or planned to give her which they rejected.
Roy claimed that after their objection, Gayer told them: ‘If you won’t sign the agreement, I’ll just have to marry your father’.
Gayer denied stated this claim is a ‘lie’ in her affidavit and pointed out she was still married to her first husband at the time.
She claimed that Judelson seeking to ‘protect’ her with the agreement as he was ‘aware that his children would be litigious if he was not around’.
Gayer and Jonas divorced that same year, with her and Judelson marrying only a few weeks later without any of his family present.
Roy said in court filings that he soon started noticing that their typically thrifty father had begun wearing flashy Armani clothes and even a fedora.
He also traded in a Volvo he had owned for 20 years in favor of a $30,000 Audi, per Gayer’s affidavit.
But Gayer claimed in her affidavit that Judelson’s alleged new lease on life was because he had grown tired of supporting his children.
Judelson’s son Paul is seen here at a gallery opening in New York City in 2009
Roy Judelson, seen here, told the Wall Street Journal his wife Eva Gayer ‘worked on’ his father for years and claimed she turned him against his kids and grandchildren. She has denied the allegations
She said she had collectively handed them $46 million over the course of his life, which they dispute.
Gayer said she believed her step-children had been finally cut off and were attempting to use her as a scapegoat.
The court papers revealed that Judelson provided his children with large monetary investments to help fund their own businesses.
He invested $5.4 million into a New York City art gallery for his son Paul and helped him buy a townhouse in the city.
His daughter Jeaneane moved to Chicago and became a social worker, but her husband ran a tech company that was helped on with funds from Judelson.
Roy, his youngest son, became an executive with sports and media company IMG before then deciding to head startups.
The two went on to partner together throughout the 80s and 2000s, investing in properties in Manhattan together.
Gayer claimed in her court filings that Judelson didn’t just help them out, but kept them all financially afloat.
According to her, he provided Roy with $25 million, Paul with $14 million and Jeaneane was handed $7 million. The trio disputed these figures.
According to court papers Judelson helped his daughter Jeaneane’s husband with starting a tech company, Jeaneane is seen here. Gayer claimed her husband had grown tired of supporting his children
Her lawyer said in court papers: ‘Jim’s relationship with his children was complicated to say the least. None of them were able to stand on their own and support themselves.’
The children continued to voice their concerns over the relationship with Gayer, especially after her husband Jonas was implicated in a prostitution ring.
He pleaded guilty to felony charges of promoting prostitution and was handed a five year suspended sentence.
Judelson penned a letter to them at the time, saying: ‘I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions about how I wish to spend my remaining years, and I have chosen to spend them largely with Eva.
‘I want Eva treated as my life partner and respected as the person with whom I share my home.’
It was at this time that the three were asked to sign the proposal saying they wouldn’t contest any gifts that their father had given her.
The newly wedded couple allegedly spent $1 million on Cartier jewelry, Sotheby’s lots and cashmere from Loro Piana, the Wall Street Journal reports.
A further $1 million was reportedly given to Gayer’s family, helping her own grandson and his education at a Manhattan school.
Judelson, left, is seen here at an annual Gulf & Western meeting in Denver in November of 1973
The children claimed that hundreds of thousands of dollars went to repair her Long Island home that she still shared with her now ex-husband. In her filing, Gayer admitted to receiving ‘help with some repairs’.
Roy’s affidavit also claimed checks of up to $20,000 began leaving Judelson’s account.
The children told the Wall Street Journal that around this time, Gayer allegedly started controlling their father’s diet and schedule for when he would see them and his grandchildren.
After Judelson passed away in September of 2018, Gayer filed a will a month later naming herself and his lawyer as the executors of his estate.
The will said that Judelson had given her a large portion of whatever was left, the children said that the will was also changed 13 times between 2014 and 2017, claiming Gayer was responsible.
They also accused her of spending $30 million of their father’s money in the lead up to his death, leaving little cash left in the estate.
Infighting between Roy and his sister Jeaneane also began after it emerged their father owned 70 percent of Roy’s apartment.
Roy refused to hand over the principle, $7 million, despite having the funds. He said in the court papers that the apartment was a gift.
Jim and first wife Maria Judelson are seen here attending a gala dinner at The Juilliard School in New York City in 2006
If he didn’t pay it back there would be less inheritance for his sister, so fearing Roy and Gayer would strike a deal, Jeananne sought her own legal representation.
As the legal battle continued, Gayer claimed through love letters that her and Judelson had an affair dating back to 1989 when they first met.
Judelson confessed to his relationship with Gayer to his children a year after their mom passed away, but the extent of it was not revealed until the court battle.
A deal was eventually struck between the parties over Judelson’s estate in 2024.
Roy agreed to pay part of what his father had given him for his apartment, which amounted to $3.25 million and was given a Steinway belonging to his mother.
His sister Jeaneane was given $1.35 million and Paul was handed $100,000 after it was agreed he benefited from his father’s help in business years prior. Smaller amounts were also handed down to Judelson’s remaining grandchildren.
Gayer was given the $2.5 million apartment that she shared with Judelson, and was given $1.8 million under the settlement.
Roy added in a statement to the outlet: ‘Even the most successful among us, including those who have reached the highest levels of success and achievement during their prime can succumb to elder abuse from predators who take advantage of them in their later years.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Gayer and the siblings for further comment.
