Sumner_Redstone_and_Companions - H 2015
AP ImagesMedia mogul Sumner Redstone wants a traditional Jewish funeral featuring a eulogy from CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves and Frank Sinatra’s song “I Did It My Way” to be played, according to new court documents filed by his companion Manuela Herzer.
Herzer also claims in the document that Redstone offered his daughter Shari Redstone 16 cemetery plots near where he was going to be buried at Sharon Memorial Park in Massachusetts — but, the only caveat is that she had to not interfere with his funeral plans.
“Sumner had instructed his attorneys to never divulge to Shari any information about his estate planning,” Herzer wrote in a declaration filed with the court Thursday.
Herzer’s filing is the latest strike in an ongoing legal battle over control of Redstone’s health care, answering allegations that she is after money not his best interest.
According to an exhibit attached to Herzer’s statement, Redstone wanted her and fellow companion Sydney Holland to plan his funeral and burial, following his written instructions, and enforce the guest list so that “certain family members not be allowed to attend” unless they “do not interfere with any aspects” of the instructions.
A June 1, 2015, document titled “Sumner M. Redstone — Funeral and Burial Instructions” lays out his wishes:
-He would like to have a traditional Jewish funeral graveside, followed by a burial at Sharon Memorial Park.
-He wants to be buried next to his parents; Herzer and Holland will choose the headstone and inscription.
-In addition to Moonves, he wants Viacom chairman Phillippe Dauman to give a eulogy, and both men plus four others to serve as pallbearers.
-Frank Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way” and Tony Bennett should be played.
-After the burial, Herzer and Holland are to host a festive, not solemn, private reception for family and close friends only.
-If anyone wants to honor his memory, he requests they make a donation to the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation.
In exchange for his daughter’s cooperation, Redstone’s offer for cemetery plots was made on the condition “she not directly or indirectly contest or attack” his estate plan, according to Herzer. If Shari doesn’t comply, the plots would be “given to Sydney and Manuela.”
