VIAB Viacom Inc

By Keach Hagey 

Sumner Redstone's lawyers say he cut his former companion Manuela Herzer out of his will, depriving her of a $70 million inheritance, on the same October day that he removed her as his health-care agent, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

Ms. Herzer has sued to be re-instated as the 92-year-old media mogul's health-care agent, who would take over health-care decision in the event he is deemed incapacitated, arguing that Mr. Redstone lacked mental capacity when he made the change. Mr. Redstone's lawyers have said the case is without merit and have moved to have it dismissed.

While Mr. Redstone's lawyers have long charged that Ms. Herzer's true motivations were monetary, the latest filing is the first time that they have confirmed that Mr. Redstone did indeed make a decision on that October day that cost Ms. Herzer a substantial amount of money.

"This is a pre-death trust contest dressed up as health-care litigation, " wrote Gabrielle Vidal, Mr. Redstone's lawyer at Loeb & Loeb.

Although Mr. Redstone ceded his titles as executive chairman of both Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. to the chief executives of both companies last week, he remains the controlling shareholder of both, with roughly 80% voting stake in each. That voting stake will remain in his control until he dies or is deemed incapacitated--a process that some experts believe Ms. Herzer's suit might indirectly influence, should the judge ultimately side with her.

Mr. Redstone had rewritten his will in September following the end of his relationship with his 44-year-old girlfriend, Sydney Holland. Under the September version of Mr. Redstone's will, Ms. Herzer would have received $50 million and Mr. Redstone's Beverly Park home, which is worth "roughly $20 million," according to the documents filed Tuesday. Ms. Herzer was thrown out of the house the following month, according to court documents.

Ms. Herzer's lawyer, Pierce O'Donnell, said in a statement: "The only reason Manuela is fighting this fight is out of concern for Sumner's well-being and a desire to honor the decisions he made when he was competent to do so. The people who've been manipulating Sumner--most notably his daughter Shari--are trying to insinuate all sorts of base motives for Manuela's actions, but the fact is that she is one of the only people around Sumner who has consistently put his interests first, which is why they regard her as such a thorn in their side."

Last week, Shari Redstone submitted an affidavit saying that she and her family had been able to rebuild their relationship with Mr. Redstone since Ms. Herzer's departure, since Ms. Herzer and Ms. Holland had "effectively prevented" them from "meaningful access to my father" while they were living in the mansion. Ms. Redstone also said that Ms. Herzer had already received more than $70 million in cash and assets from Mr. Redstone since 2009.

Write to Keach Hagey at keach.hagey@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 09, 2016 15:23 ET (20:23 GMT)

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