A court ruled Thursday that the family of the late Eric Richins will benefit from his business’ life insurance policy, not his wife Kouri who is charged with his murder.
Thursday’s hearing was about who controls Eric’s business interest in C&E Stone Masonry. He had a $2 million buy/sell agreement with his business partner and set up a trust as the beneficiary.
That means whoever controls the trust gets the $2 million from his business partner, who takes over Eric’s share of the business after his death.
Eric’s will states his sister would take over the trust if he died, but prosecutors say Kouri didn’t know that. They further allege that, as she didn’t know about the trust, Kouri logged into the buy/sell agreement account with New York Life and attempted to make herself its beneficiary two months before Eric died.
The life insurance company notified Eric and his business partner, and Kouri was removed as the beneficiary.
Attorney James Tracy, who represented Eric’s family, said the trust held the business interest at the time of Eric’s death.
“In this case, the real property transferred from being owned by Eric to being owned by the trustee of his trust,” Tracy said. “Again, the fact that he was his own trustee doesn't make a difference.”
About three weeks after Eric’s alleged murder, Kouri sued Eric’s trust for the money and assets that the trust lays claim to.
That led to Thursday’s hearing, during which Third District Court Judge Richard Mrazik said Eric’s trustee, his sister, gets the $2 million, not Kouri.
During the hearing, Mrazik considered two other motions from Kouri’s attorneys: first, that it was illegal for Eric to give the trust his business interest, and second, that the prenuptial agreement grants her the business interest instead.
Although the judge denied both, Kouri’s attorney Austin Nate noted that Mrazik’s rulings were partial summary judgements, which are simply preliminary rulings on the facts of the case.
“The judge today said that this was not a final judgment,” Nate said. “So, this doesn't end the case. Certainly, we will take the ruling and address next steps and go from there.”
Elsewhere in the case docket, Kouri has filed a motion to remove Eric’s sister as his trustee and make herself the trustee. Were she to win that motion, she could still receive the $2 million, because it goes to the trust, not directly to Eric’s family.
The attorneys representing Eric’s sister declined to comment after the hearing.
Mrazik indicated the next thing to consider in this particular civil case is Kouri’s motion to wait until the criminal case is resolved to handle property rights issues.
