Westmoreland judge approves settlement of Richard Mellon Scaife trust

A $200 million settlement in a long-fought battle over a 1935 trust left to late philanthropist and newspaper publisher Richard Mellon Scaife was approved in Westmoreland County court Thursday.

The approval during a brief hearing before Judge Harry Smail closes the book on a legal entanglement dating back to 2014 when Scaife died and his children, David and Jennie, claimed the trust, which once held $450 million, had been wrongly depleted.

They sought remuneration from trustees PNC Bank, Scaife’s cousin James Walton and his attorney Yale Gutnick.

Throughout it all, the trustees said they did nothing wrong and the children were financially taken care of in a separate trust that also was established by Scaife’s mother, court documents indicate.

Richard Mellon Scaife was the owner and publisher of the Tribune-Review.

Jennie Scaife, 55, died on Nov. 29, 2018, but her brother and attorneys for her estate pressed on with the legal action.

For several years, the parties battled in Allegheny County Orphan’s Court over the depleted fund.

According to a recent court order, Richard Scaife executed indemnification agreements that paved the way for the $200 million to come out of his estate and on Thursday Smail approved the settlement as a debt of that estate.

Smail’s approval was required under the terms of the settlement agreement because the payment was to be made from Scaife’s estate, which is probated in Westmoreland County.