Zaha Hadid's family and friends have started to fight over her £70.8 million estate, as the Principal of the firm Patrik Schumacher has recently filed a claim in London's High Court to remove Rana Hadid (Hadid's niece), artist Brian Clarke, and developer Peter Palumbo as co-executors.

If Schumacher's claim is accepted in High Court, he will be the sole party to control Hadid's £70.8 million estate. The claim has been made public with a statement by The Guardian critic Oliver Wainwright with a tweet. 

In a statement issued on behalf of the Lord Peter Palumbo, Rana Hadid and Brian Clarke (the trustees of the Zaha Hadid Foundation),  a lawyer representing the three co-executors stated that "Patrik Schumacher, a director of Zaha Hadid Architects, and an executor of the estate of the late Dame Zaha Hadid, has today issued a claim in the High Court in London against his three fellow executors, Peter Palumbo, Rana Hadid and Brian Clarke."

"The claim seeks to remove these three as executors," read a joint statement. 

After Hadid's death in March 2016, Zaha Hadid's fortune details were obtained from the documents published last year and the majority of Hadid's estate were divided into her four executors, which also included Patrik Schumacher. 

The four executors in the list, alongside Schumacher, involved Hadid's niece Rana Hadid, artist Brian Clarke and property developer and Peter Palumbo, former Serpentine Gallery Chairman, who are also the trustees of charity the Zaha Hadid Foundation. 

Schumacher was named as the only non-family member receiving £500,000 lump sum named in the will.

"These executors were appointed personally by Zaha Hadid because she trusted them to act in her best interests," continued the statement. "All three were known to Zaha for decades, one was a close family member, and the other two were very good friends."

Hadid's multi-million-pound estate was planned be distributed over the next 125 years. If four executors cannot disagree on the distribution of the asset within the allocated period, the sum will be left to the Zaha Hadid Foundation. Hadid's fortune is valued at a Penthouse in Clerkenwell, East London and the firm Zaha Hadid Architects, now directed by her business partner Patrik Schumacher.

The lawyer representing the three co-executors claimed that "the attempt to remove these three executors is totally unjustified and misconceived. Unlike Mr. Schumacher (who is seeking to gain financially from the estate), the 3 executors have no personal financial interest. 

"They have at all times acted properly and in good faith with the desire to do their best for the estate given their friendship with Zaha Hadid."

Rana Hadid stated that "my aunt, Zaha, would have been devastated to learn what Schumacher is doing and we feel obliged to resist his claims in order to defend her great name and legacy."

Top image courtesy of ZHA

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