SAN JOSE, Calif. — Thomas Kinkade’s widow and girlfriend took their dispute over the late painter’s estate to court Tuesday as handwritten notes allegedly written by Kinkade that could be central to the clash were made public for the first time.

Amy Pinto-Walsh was living with the 54-year-old Kinkade and found his body when he accidentally overdosed on alcohol and Valium in April. She asked a judge to allow arguments over the artist’s contested will to be heard in open probate court.

Lawyers for Kinkade’s wife of 30 years, Nanette Kinkade, and for his company, want the terms to be decided in secret binding arbitration. The couple had been legally separated for more than two years when Kinkade died.

Pinto-Walsh has submitted notes allegedly handwritten by Kinkade bequeathing her his mansion in Monte Sereno and $10 million to establish a museum of his paintings there, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The notes, dated Nov. 18, 2011, and Dec. 11, 2011, were barely legible, the newspaper said.

The first, according to a transcription furnished by Pinto-Walsh’s lawyers, reads: “I, Thomas Kinkade, being of sound mind and body do hereby bequeath to Amy Pinto Walsh $10,000,000 in cash from my corporate policy and I give her the house at 16324 and 16342 Ridgecrest Avenue for her security.”

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The second note states that along with the house, Pinto-Walsh should be given $10 million to establish the “Thomas Kinkade Museum” at the mansion “for the public display in perpetuity of original art.”

“We’re asking the court whether those instructions should be carried out,” Pinto-Walsh’s lawyer, Sonia Agee, said.

Pinto-Walsh also is asking for legal authority to oversee $66.3 million from Kinkade’s estate, the Mercury-News reported.

A July 2 hearing is scheduled to determine the authenticity and legal weight of the notes.

Pinto-Walsh’s lawyers filed court papers Monday stating that she and Kinkade “were deeply in love” and had planned to marry in Fiji as soon as his divorce was finalized.

Nanette Kinkade has painted Pinto-Walsh in court papers as a gold digger who is trying to cheat the artist’s rightful heirs. After Kinkade’s death, she obtained a restraining order prohibiting Pinto-Walsh from talking publicly about the artist.

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Post-‘SNL,’ Samberg to go ‘Cuckoo’ in England

LOS ANGELES — Andy Samberg made his departure from “Saturday Night Live” official earlier this summer, and now his post-“SNL” plans are official: He’s going to England.

Samberg, who was with “SNL” since 2005, is set to star in the BBC series “Cuckoo.” The six-part series casts Samberg as an American hippie and “self-appointed spiritual ninja” battling a proper British dad (Greg Davies) for the heart of his daughter (Tamla Kari).

Davies is a comedy star in England, where he’s best known for his stand-up and his role on the classic comedy series “The Inbetweeners.”

The series films this summer and will air on BBC Three later in the year.

Alleged stalker told to avoid Jeff Goldblum

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LOS ANGELES — A judge ordered a woman who has repeatedly tried to contact Jeff Goldblum for the past decade to stay away from the actor for the next three years.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carol Boas Goodson issued the order Tuesday in Los Angeles against Linda Ransom after a contentious hearing in which the woman repeatedly raised her voice to the judge.

Ransom claims one of Goldblum’s employees attacked her and that she wanted to file a case, but Goodson told her that didn’t give her the right to repeatedly go to the actor’s home and try to meet him at public performances.

“Mr. Goldblum is being harassed because the legal system is negligently violating my rights,” Ransom said.

“This harassment is going to stop,” Goodson told Ransom. As she explained the terms of the order – that Ransom must stay 100 yards away from Goldblum and his home, and refrain from contacting him for three years – Ransom continued yelling.

“I must say you are acting irrationally in court,” the judge said. “Mr. Goldblum does not want you near him.”

 

 


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