Friday, January 08, 1999

Affair of two lifetimes soured by estate fight

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BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Rose Bell and Lloyd Cavett in 1967 snapshot. | ZOOM |

        By the time Rose Bell turns 90 this year, the court battle over her late companion's estate should be settled.

        But being a millionaire's mistress has come at great price.

        It has exposed their secret extramarital affair.

        It has prompted the Internal Revenue Service and charities to fight for a greater share of the millionaire's estate.

        And it has left Ms. Bell, who now suffers from dementia, spending the last years of her life reliving the loss of her greatest love.

        His name was Lloyd Cavett, and he made a fortune in the road-paving business — the L.P. Cavett Co. of Lockland.

        Upon his death in 1992, he left $350,000, his $400,000 home in suburban Wyoming and his personal belongings to Ms. Bell.

        The other $1.7 million of his estate was to be divided among Wyoming Baptist Church (where he was a member since 1911), the University of Cincinnati (where he was a 1925 engineering graduate), the Sal vation Army, Shriners Burns Institute and the Franciscan Terrace at St. Clare Center (where he died at age 90).

        An IRS audit a year after his death complicated his wishes. Ms. Bell won a civil trial accusing her of theft and fraud. The IRS also questioned her about $2 million she got from her lover over the years. The agency had said if the payments were wages, she would owe income taxes. She settled by paying $60,000.

        But the tax end of it is not over for everyone involved. What remains is a question over whether the payments were wages or gifts. If the ruling is that they were gifts, the estate would owe gift taxes, reducing money for the charities. “This is between the estate and the IRS,” said attorney Kyle Brooks, one of the executors, who expects a ruling in Hamilton County in the next few months. He characterized the dispute as a common legal issue.

        Others who deal with real estate law say what makes this case different is that it pits a charity against an heir.

        “It's surprising the charity would take that type of action in light of the intent to leave it to a loved one,” said Bruce Selnick, a Cincinnati attorney. “If he would have known what the charities were doing, he might not have left it to them.”

        What's forgotten in the whole legal storm is the story of the two lovers, said Jerry Bell, 58, Ms. Bell's son in Atlanta.

        “What they're saying is that she was his maid,” he said. “There were 46 years of a romantic relationship, and they tried to rewrite history for money. It all came down to money.”

Affair to remember
        Lloyd Cavett and Rose Bell grew up without wealth or privilege.

        Ms. Bell had a high school education, married a plasterer and had two children.

        Mr. Cavett, whose father died when he was 13, grew up in Lockland, worked his way through school and started a paving company.

        Their lives came together on Nov. 7, 1948.

        Ms. Bell was working as a part-time waitress for a party at Clovernook Country Club.

        “He had his company party there, and he asked her to dance,” Mr. Bell said. “Anyway, they ended up going to lunch, and they were an item ever since.”

        When Mr. Cavett took trips to Florida with his family, he'd arrange for Ms. Bell and her sons to be in another hotel. He'd leave her notes and give her gifts on holidays.

        Ms. Bell divorced in 1956. Mr. Cavett's wife, Helen, died in 1963. His only daughter, Shirley, who suffered brain damage in a childhood sledding accident, also died.

        Ms. Bell moved in with Mr. Cavett. They had their own maid, and the two were constant companions, said Charlie Skillman, 57, of Lockland, Mr. Cavett's cousin.

        “Lloyd, I do know, was a very caring man,” Mr. Skillman said. “He was a devout Baptist. She was Catholic. I don't know whether the family even knew about (the relationship).”

        Ms. Bell kept the cards Mr. Cavett gave her over the years. Sometimes, they were accompanied by a diamond ring or $1,000, her son said.

        On the 38th anniversary of the day they met, Mr. Cavett wrote to the woman he called “Rosie” about the day he saw a pretty blond girl: “I have enjoyed it, and I love you very much. So happy anniversary, and may we have many more of them.”

        As Ms. Bell approaches the end of her life, her son wants to protect her from the pain of the past. He says that when she dies, she will be buried near Mr. Cavett under a tombstone Mr. Cavett bought.

        “I feel that they ruined the last four years of her life,” Mr. Bell said of the executors of the estate. “The reason I want the story told is because I have a feeling that this goes on more. This isn't just my mother's case.”

       

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