Evelyn Einstein, R.I.P.?

Perhaps, with a name like hers, the controversy surrounding Evelyn Einstein’s death and final wishes was inevitable. Or perhaps such confusion could happen to anyone, living alone and relying on friends, who does not leave written instructions about her wishes or communicate often with far-flung family.

Einstein’s private memorial service will take place this weekend in El Cerrito. After her , conflict arose over the disposition of her body, the veracity of her handwritten will, and the easy access of friends to her home after she died.

Her condominium has been sealed by the coroner. The mortuary has been made responsible for her cremated remains. Meanwhile, a nephew in France may challenge the handwritten will that left Einstein's entire estate, worth roughly $800,000, to a southern California lawyer some of her family members say they do not know.

Einstein’s body was, until recently, in the custody of the coroner’s office. Sunset View Mortuary vice-president John Olson said it was returned to the mortuary for cremation and a private memorial service this weekend.

There may be no family members in attendance, but some of her local friends and her sole beneficiary, Allen P. Wilkinson, plan to be there.

Einstein died in her Pierce Street condominium on April 13. She was diabetic and had suffered from heart and lung problems for decades, but the exact cause of death has not been determined.

After her death, but before the condominium was sealed, her friends Kennan Kellaris Salinero and Lou MacMillan searched her home for a will, which they found under the telephone, according to Salinero.

The will, written in shaky cursive and signed on Aug. 18, 2009, was not witnessed or notarized, and leaves all of Einstein's property to Wilkinson.

According to state law, a handwritten will may be admitted as a legal document if a witness who knew the deceased is able to confirm that the handwriting is legitimate.

The witness in this case was Wilkinson, the will's sole beneficiary, in a document filed in Alameda County Superior Court on May 24.

In the document, Wilkinson identifies himself as a friend of Einstein’s for eight or more years. He testifies that he knew Einstein’s handwriting from having taken “her to a notary and watched her acknowledge her signature.”

According to the document, he also received written correspondence from Einstein over the years and, he writes, “At a lunch date, she asked me to read a document she had written in her own hand.”

Wilkinson said he first met Einstein when he was doing research for an article on her uncle Eduard, who spent most of his life in an institution in Switzerland. “I contacted Evelyn,” he said. “Evelyn and I hit it off immediately.”

Wilkinson’s website lists two books he co-wrote with other lawyers. The more recent title, co-written with Reza Torkzadeh, is Accidents Happen, But Who’s Going to Pay the Bills? The website for the book identifies Wilkinson as a personal injury lawyer. His previous book, Everybody’s Guide to the Law, was co-written with trial lawyer Melvin Belli 25 years ago.

Several long-term acquaintances of Einstein’s, including her attorney, Kenneth Cera, said they had never heard of Wilkinson from her. Cera wrote, in an email to Albany Patch, that “Evelyn never mentioned the name Allen Wilkinson to me at any time.”

After Einstein’s death, there was some confusion over what to do with her body, because she left no written instructions. Wilkinson said she wished to be cremated and have her ashes scattered at the Berkeley Marina.

However, under California law, only the next-of-kin is authorized to make decisions about the disposition of the body. Her nephew Paul Einstein, who lives in France, was contacted by officials for this purpose.

Friend Salinero said that, of all her relatives, Paul was the only one Evelyn would talk with. (Einstein has some surviving relatives in southern California.)

According to an email from Wilkinson, Paul “made some noise about ordering an autopsy…. After a couple of months of not hearing from Paul, the Coroner declared that Paul had abandoned his pursuit of an autopsy and disposition, so the Coroner finally released Ev's remains to me.”

Her body was cremated June 13. The mortuary will scatter her cremains "by air over the San Francisco Bay," Wilkinson wrote.

Although ABC News reported that Einstein had “died in squalor,” the estimated value of the property of her estate is $800,000, including her Bay view condominium, which is priced at $150,000, according to the supporting documents in the Petition for Probate of her Will.

Her nephew, Thomas Einstein, also denies that Evelyn was living in poverty.

“The fact is that she owned her own condominium, collected disability, and was supported by money from various law suits,” he wrote in an email to Patch.

Salinero said Einstein had enough means to qualify for Piedmont Gardens retirement home in Oakland, where she had been pre-approved for a space but had not yet moved. However, “she didn’t qualify for the really high-end ones,” according to Salinero, who said she researched “hundreds” of assisted living situations for Einstein.

Salinero said she had helped Einstein with various chores regularly. “If I didn’t see every couple weeks, then I was in hot water,” she said. Salinero said she took her to doctor’s appointments and helped with paperwork; she also had a key to Einstein’s condo.

Wilkinson said he and Einstein had just started writing her memoirs two weeks before her death. He claimed Einstein told him that Albert Einstein “ordered” his son, Hans Albert, to go to Chicago from South Carolina and adopt her as a baby girl, and that she was, in fact, the “love child” of Albert Einstein and a dancer.

Evelyn’s nephew Thomas disputed that idea.

“The only person who ever said that she was a ‘love child’ of Albert Einstein was Evelyn Einstein herself. There is absolutely no basis for this bizarre thought,” he wrote.

Wilkinson has alleged that Evelyn's nephew Paul wanted to challenge her will because he wanted part of the inheritance.

Paul said, however, that he was concerned only for his aunt’s well-being.

“Any action I took was the action of a concerned relative,” he said. “It had nothing to do with her money.”

Asked whether he would pursue a legal challenge to the will, Paul responded, “I have nothing to say about it; it would be private business.”

Everybody makes mistakes ... ! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor Emilie Raguso at 510-459-8325 or email her at emilier@patch.com.