The estate of The Cars leader Ric Ocasek has finally reached a settlement with his widow Paulina Porizkova two years after his death from heart disease in 2018.
Paulina appeared on the ‘Los Angeles Magazine’ podcast “The Originals” and said the report that the estate was worth only $5 million was untrue.
She indicated that lower number was for tax purposes. Paulina said, "In the very early days, they just had to put down a number. So they just put down a low sum, so that it wouldn’t seem like he was maybe holding away a lot of money from me? I don’t know. I’m not sure."
Porizkova wouldn’t discuss the sum, but she added, "I am gonna be fine... They were very fair. They gave me what is mine under New York state law, and we’re done.”
New York State law allows her to be entitled to a third.
Ric and Paulina were separated when he passed away in September 2019, but she was continuing to care for Ric after surgery shortly before his death. Ocasek indicated in his will that she'd "abandoned” him.
He stated, “I have made no provision for my wife...as we are in the process of divorcing. Even if I should die before our divorce is final…Paulina is not entitled to any elective share…because she has abandoned me.”
Ocasek had also disinherited his two older sons from a previous marriage.
Paulina said, “My husband had some lawyers, and he was supposed to go through surgery… They just cobbled together a really fast, kind of stupid thing. I don’t think my husband had the brain capacity at the time to figure out what he was really doing… He was a bit of a hypochondriac anyway… I think he signed a piece of paper without spending a lot of time thinking about it.”
Days after Ocasek's death, his two children with Paulina put his New York City townhouse up for sale for $13.9 million.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]