UPPER EAST SIDE — Where there's a will, there's a way to get revenge.
A jilted lover got the last laugh on her former boyfriend by persuading his mom to change her will to leave him considerably less money, new court documents charge.
Daniel Sigal was set to inherit $25,000 plus a $4,000 stipend each month from his artist mom's estate when she died, according to a 2013 will. But a will that his mom, Rose Sigal Ibsen, wrote two years later only left him $75,000 — with no stipend.
Sigal and his family lawyer and friend, Mark Altschul, blame the changes on the meddling of his ex-girlfriend, chocolatier and jeweler Patricia Hudson, who grew close with his mom in her final years.
"I also believe that the 2015 will came about from Hudson's desire for revenge because of Daniel Sigal's rebuffing of Hudson's romantic interest," Altschul wrote in a Sept. 30, 2016, filing in Manhattan Surrogate's Court that seeks to stop Hudson from becoming the administrator of Ibsen's estate.
"I am significantly troubled by the 2015 will in that it does not reflect what I believe [Ibsen's] wishes were with regard to her son," added Altschul, who has known Sigal and Ibsen for 40 years and helped draft the 2013 will and 10 prior wills.
Ibsen, a Romanian immigrant, died at 93 with $1.5 million at a TriBeCa senior living facility on March 29, 2016, according to court records. Sigal was her only son.
Altschul said in the filing that Hudson had hoped that Sigal would marry her. But instead Sigal, an enamel artist who lives in Lexington, Kentucky, ended up marrying another woman.
Altschul said that Hudson "exerted undue influence" on Ibsen to get her to change her will.
In the 2015 will, Hudson was named the executor and received a $75,000 bequest. Aside from a few other bequests, the bulk of her estate — which had been previously set aside to fund Sigal's stipend — goes to nonprofits, according to the 2015 will.
In the 2013 will, Hudson and Altschul were named executors, and Hudson did not receive a bequest.
Hudson told DNAinfo New York that she's not hung up on Sigal.
"I don't want to marry him. I broke up with him," Hudson said. "For you to think he’s some great catch, he’s definitely not."
Hudson said she introduced Ibsen to a lawyer to help her write a will in 2015, but had no part in what was written.
"I can be accused of whatever they want to accuse me of, but I have not done anything wrong," she said.
Hudson said she became friends with Ibsen in the 1980s. She said she considered Ibsen a mentor and that they shared a love of art.
"I loved her like a grandmother," Hudson said.
Ibsen introduced Hudson, who hails from Kentucky, to her son because of their geographical connection. Hudson said she and Sigal dated about 18 years ago for three years.
Hudson said she did more for Ibsen when she was dying than her own son did.
"Now Daniel misses his mother. Now he appreciates her art work. He would never go to her shows or call her on the holidays," Hudson said.
Sigal declined to comment. Altschul also declined to comment.
