Entertainer Martha Raye's $2.4 million estate will remain under control of a temporary conservator until a court resolves her daughter's bid to gain control of the money, a judge has ruled.
The 75-year-old entertainer, who came to court in a wheelchair, said her daughter, Melody Condos, is "out for the almighty buck.""I don't like it, and she doesn't need (money)," the comedian-actress said. "She has a home we bought her. She's never worked a day in her life."
Raye was accompanied to court by her husband, Mark Harris, 42. It was her recent marriage to Harris and her ill health that spurred the legal conflict with her daughter.
"She's very jealous and afraid I might leave something to my husband after I die. But I'm not ready to do that," Raye said outside court.
Condos said her mother has suffered several strokes. She said a doctor determined Raye suffered mental impairment.
But Superior Court Judge Edward Ross disagreed.
"There doesn't seem to be a psychiatric problem," he said. "If there is a problem, it's not psychiatric in nature."
The judge refused to order a psychiatric exam requested by Condos and granted a request by Raye's lawyer for $5,500 a month to cover household expenses for the entertainer and her husband until the case is resolved.
Harris told reporters he "married Martha Raye because I love her very much. And this effort to obtain a conservatorship over her is causing a great deal of stress."
The temporary conservatorship will remain in place at least until a March 23 settlement conference, the judge said.