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The woman says she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for her 92-year-old husband and with his approval.
By MONIQUE FIELDS
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 29, 2000
Delores Ann Holton, the 50-year-old woman who married a 92-year-old man and helped spend hundreds of thousands of dollars of his money, says she did it all for love.
In her first public comments since a judge gave control of her husband's money to other family members, Holton confirmed that she spent a lot. But, she said this week, she genuinely loves George Smith, her retired oil executive husband, and disagrees with a judge's ruling that he is not competent to control his own money.
"George is good to me," Holton said, wiping tears away. "I will never believe my husband is incompetent. If everybody thinks I'm a bad person, if I took his money, why didn't I take his money and run? I love my husband."
Since their wedding in January, Smith, a self-made millionaire, and Holton, his former live-in health aid, have rung up a flurry of expenses, said Doug Smith, a trustee of George Smith's trust fund.
In one example of her spending, Holton used more than $70,000 to renovate their home on Agonquin Drive off Sunset Point Road in Clearwater.
She said she bought and installed sandy-colored furniture and carpet, as well as new light fixtures and blinds, to help her husband, who is blind in his left eye.
"I was thinking of George," she said. "He needs to have light things, not dark things."
She said she spent his money with his approval -- a point her husband confirmed.
"Let's put it this way: I know she was free with it," George Smith said.
The couple also spent money on trips, food, clothing, taxes and legal fees.
One trip to Walt Disney World may have cost as much as $4,000 for a one-week stay, but Holton is unclear on the cost of the trip and many of the couple's other expenses. She said she is "gullible" and that the couple needed a money manager.
But they don't need one now. Last month, George Smith was declared incapacitated. His assets, already frozen pending a psychiatric evaluation, are now being administered by Doug Smith and his brother, David.
Holton and George Smith, who received $6,000 a month from a trust fund and more than $1,300 a month from his pension and Social Security benefits, now receive only $150 a month for groceries and other expenses.
The rest of their monthly money matters are handled by Alison Carpenter, George Smith's guardian.
George Smith doesn't blame his wife, but he faults his grandson for their current money woes, calling him "mean."
Doug Smith isn't surprised by his grandfather's statement. "I think my grandfather has been brainwashed," he said.
"There's no way in the world she paid that for that furniture and renovations to that house," Doug Smith said. Instead, he said, Holton has taken advantage of his grandfather and has manipulated him so much that he believes his family no longer cares for him.
The Department of Children and Families has launched an investigation into George Smith's welfare, said Brenda Porter, a spokeswoman for DCF. She provided no other details.