Suit pits kids of deceased LV man

Kim Smith

Friday, Oct. 8, 1999 | 10:07 a.m.

A Las Vegas resident is suing her stepdaughter and her stepdaughter's lawyer claiming their attempts to evict her from her home has exacerbated her potentially life-threatening condition.

According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Maria Hildebrand and her stepchildren have been battling over the estate of Maria's husband, Ralph Hildebrand, since his death in 1992.

As part of the 1967 divorce of Ralph and his third wife, Mary Eaton, Ralph promised the couple's 5-acre ranch near Flamingo and Pecos roads to his five minor children when he died.

Two years later Ralph Hildebrand married his fifth and last wife, Maria, with whom he had two children, Leana and Brian. According to court records, he deeded the property over to himself and Maria in joint tenancy and changed his will so that his seven children would get the property when he died.

But when Ralph died in 1992, the children from his third marriage began a legal battle to obtain sole ownership of the house -- a battle that is still ongoing, and according to the newest lawsuit, threatening Maria's life.

The battle pits Maria, Leana and Brian Hildebrand against Mary Eaton, Susan and John Herda, John Hildebrand, Sandra Marez, James Hildebrand and Bill Hildebrand.

The Herdas, who own Herda's Discount Appliance Warehouse, are out of the country and were unavailable for comment. Their attorney, Beverly Salhanick, declined to comment on the lawsuit, and attempts to reach the other siblings were unsuccessful.

At one point Maria Hildebrand was awarded the house by a state district judge. But in November 1998 the Nevada Supreme Court reversed the decision, and four months later Maria Hildebrand was evicted.

Maria Hildebrand, who was battling liver disease, came home from her job as a landscaper to find her house locked up, her utilities turned off and her animals impounded, the lawsuit states. Inside the home was her supply of insulin and other drugs.

"She was totally in tears. She was in complete disbelief," Leana Hildebrand said. "She kept saying that she just wanted to die, that maybe if she died they'd give up fighting."

The eviction was ruled illegal because of procedural problems and a lack of notice, but two months later, a new eviction order was made and carried out.

The evictions are no longer in dispute. It is what they have allegedly done to Maria's health that is now at the center of her federal lawsuit.

"This is killing her. It's been killing her for seven years, but the eviction stuck her on the downside," Leana Hildebrand said. "Watching her die before my eyes has been very difficult."

Last month Maria had a liver transplant at Cedars Sinai Hospital in California. She plans to move in with her son when she is released.

Leana Hildebrand said she has had her eyes opened as the fight has dragged out over the last seven years.

"I learned that the law doesn't give a damn about me, that justice can be bought and that the one who has the gold wins," Leana Hildebrand said.

Attorney Mark Solomon said he isn't surprised Maria Hildebrand is continuing her fight, but he doesn't believe it will do much good.

"Basically they lost a long, involved litigation that's been going on seven years and they are striking out wherever they can," Solomon said, adding he's asking the lawsuit be dismissed as frivolous.