Ohio Lottery: Lottery winnings in middle of disputeRuby Bosher became a millionaire five years ago when she and her husband won the Ohio lottery.
Today, her winnings are in a trust, she is in a nursing home suffering from dementia and her children are in court battling over control of her estate.
The sibling rivalry played out yesterday before Lake County Probate Judge Ted Klammer, who ordered the family to get along for their mother's sake, even if it was only temporarily.
At issue is $3.6 million worth of Super Lotto winnings that Ruby and her husband, William, won in 1998. William died on May 24, the same day Ruby was placed in a nursing home, siblings say.
Karen Bosher of Mentor-on-the-Lake and her brother, Dennis Bosher, a 51-year-old Euclid construction worker, are battling their brother, Richard Bosher of Mentor. Both sides are seeking guardianship of Ruby's affairs, claiming she is incompetent.
Ruby, 71, is in Madison Health Care Inc., where doctors say she has delusions, memory loss and heart disease.
The squabble is so intense that neither side would acknowledge the other as they sat on opposite sides in court yesterday.
Richard Bosher, 48, director of nursing at a Mayfield nursing home, wants guardianship of his mother and already has power of attorney over her medical needs. His lawyer, Russell Meraglio, said both sides agree Ruby cannot handle business affairs on her own.
But Dennis and Karen Bosher say Richard has a criminal history of four convictions for assaults and felonious assaults in Euclid and Cleveland and is unfit to be their mother's guardian. Richard listed the convictions in his guardianship application filed in court. He listed an additional $212,140 worth of real estate and personal property in her estate.
"We have concerns about Richard's qualifications for guardianship," said Karen Bosher's attorney, Dorothea Kingsbury. "My client has not been apprised of family matters. She has concerns about whether her mother is properly cared for. She is not permitted to see her mother."
Karen Bosher said Richard used his power of attorney to admit Ruby to the nursing home just hours after their father died and restricted visitors, which prdvented the other siblings from visiting Ruby.
Richard said he limited visitations because of threats from other family members.
After a brief recess, both sides agreed to let Klammer appoint a neutral guardian to handle the estate.
Klammer listened to a few more minutes of squabbling before he ordered that the siblings be allowed to visit their mother.
"Children should always be allowed to visit their parent," Klammer said. "Whatever your disputes are between brother and brother or brother and sister. Put them away. The most important person here is your mother. Be kind to her and go give her some comfort and love."
