BEDFORD, N.Y. — The two branches of Mary Richardson Kennedy's family were planning separate memorial services for the 52-year-old, who committed suicide Wednesday amid a contested divorce with husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Mary, an architectural designer and environmentalist, had been close with the Kennedy family for decades, but there are signs that the relationship between the two sides of the family had frayed.
One of Mary's brothers, Thomas Richardson, filed a legal motion at a court in White Plains on Thursday listing Robert Kennedy as the defendant. The document still hadn't been made public by the courts Friday and details of the dispute were not immediately available.
The court filing, however, came just as Robert Kennedy was finalizing arrangements. He was planning a Friday evening wake at the couple's home in Bedford, a funeral Saturday at a Roman Catholic Church in Bedford and burial near the family's seaside compound in Hyannisport, Mass.
Meanwhile, Mary Kennedy's siblings announced through their lawyer, Kerry Lawrence, that they were planning a memorial service in Manhattan, though they didn't say when.
Lawrence declined to answer questions about the court filing Friday. The lawyer listed in court records as representing Thomas Richardson, Patricia Hennessey, had also served as Mary's divorce lawyer. Hennessey did not return a phone message.
Mary Kennedy, a childhood friend of Robert's sister, Kerry, hanged herself at the family's Bedford estate, after struggling for years with depression and alcohol.
She and Robert, the son of assassinated U.S. senator and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, had been going through a divorce. The divorce case was in its second year and was scheduled to go to trial in August. The couple, who have four children together, had been living in separate homes.
Records in the couple's divorce case are sealed, but the public docket sheet showed that Robert Kennedy's lawyers had sought a contempt order in the case last summer, indicating a dispute between the two sides.
American Express also sued Mary Kennedy in April, claiming she owed $32,624 in unpaid bills. Her lawyers didn't respond to inquiries about that lawsuit.
As of Friday afternoon, Kennedy's remains were still being held by Westchester County's medical examiner, according to a county spokeswoman.
Caruso reported from New York City.