The stunt coordinator wins a round in the guardianship battle

Former Hollywood stunt coordinator Nigel Hudson, who long struggled with his now ex-conservative producer Lucas Foster, has received a favorable court ruling in his ongoing fight over how his conservatorship’s funds have been spent.

Probate Judge Brenda Penny recently overturned Foster’s court-approved final accounting, clearing the way for the controversial conservatorship review and allowing Hudson to pursue her allegations that Foster misappropriated funds.

Last year, Hudson filed a motion to overturn the order approving the restaurant owners’ final count. Hudson alleges that Foster, his former curator, took advantage of his position and stole money from the conservatorship, writing checks to himself and his various film companies as reimbursement for expenses he did not paid.

Hudson claims he didn’t discover the alleged fraud until four years after the conservatorship ended in 2014, long after a Los Angeles probate judge and the court-appointed guardian ad litem had approved the final accounting. Fosters.

We were going to have a forensic accountant go through the records to determine how much evidence to present to the judge and for Foster to explain in more detail what he did with the money, Hudsons attorney Martin Horwitz said.

Horwitz estimates the amount of money embezzled to be at least $500,000, likely more.

Foster and her rep did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, in court papers, Foster said the lawsuit was brought in bad faith and that Hudson and his guardian ad litem signed the accounting. He alleged that he advanced hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase goods and services for the benefit of Hudson.

Foster denied defrauding his former friend, saying Hudson knew he had spent funds through his various companies and approved of the plan.

In 2007, Hudson, who has trained actors and rock stars, and had choreographed fight sequences for movies like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, was pulled into a traffic stop on Sunset Boulevard.

British-born Hudson, then 38, suffered head trauma, a broken neck and numerous other physical injuries that required multiple surgeries and medical treatment.

After years of litigation over the crash, in 2011 he won a $13,863,000 settlement. More than half of the money went to pay Hudson’s attorneys and his initial medical and other expenses. The rest left him with a substantial financial cushion for his livelihood and future medical expenses.

The following year, Hudson agreed to have his longtime friend, Lucas Foster, appointed curator-general of his estate. The legal arrangement gave Foster, a film producer with a long credits roster, including the Ford vs. Ferrari and Bad Boys films, broad control over Hudson’s finances.

However, when the conservatorship ended in 2014, their financial entanglement continued, leading to a bitter rift and legal recriminations.

Between January 2016 and February 2017, Hudson said he loaned Foster $400,000, according to court documents, growing increasingly frustrated when Foster failed to repay the money.

As Hudson demanded repayment of the loan, he said he discovered Foster misrepresented the payment of one of his medical bills two years after his conservatorship ended. He learned of the discrepancy when his accountant, who was preparing 2013 tax returns, asked for his medical expenses, according to Hudsons attorney Martin Horwitz.

One expense involved a $60,000 bill from UCLA that Hudson believed Foster had paid on his behalf. However, when he asked for proof of payment for his tax returns, he discovered that, unbeknownst to him, Foster had negotiated the bill to $54,704.64 and kept the nearly $5,500 difference for himself. -even, according to court documents.

On April 26, 2017, Hudson filed a civil lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Foster and his various companies, including Warp Films, seeking to repay the borrowed money and recover the difference in the amount paid to UCLA.

Foster denied Hudson’s allegations.

After a bench trial in November 2019, the judge ruled in favor of Hudson on three counts, including oral breach of contract and theft, but ruled against him on two counts involving a breach of fiduciary duty and fraud. The parties negotiated a settlement of $700,000 to be paid to Hudson.

Hudson claimed to have discovered other discrepancies over bills he believed Foster had paid on his behalf as curator. When his lawyer subpoenaed the bank documents under conservatorship, including the images of checks, they compared the canceled checks to Fosters’ entries in the court-submitted payment schedule, alleging that 28 checks totaling $558,169.47 that were listed as being paid to third parties, have been paid to Foster or any of its companies.

With the court ruling, Hudson will now have the option to request a full review.

It’s been a long road from Nigels’ accident to now, Horwitz said.