DATE: Wednesday, October 29, 1997           TAG: 9710290648

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  111 lines

HEILIG'S FORMER LOVER SUES FOR A SHARE OF HIS ESTATE

A woman who says she was Del. George H. Heilig Jr.'s lover for the past two years filed suit Tuesday against Heilig's estate, seeking $1 million, a house in New Mexico and land in North Carolina.

In two lawsuits filed in Norfolk Circuit Court, the woman, Cynthia M. Gerard, lays out details of her life with the late legislator - how they shared the last four months of his life on a boat at Willoughby Marina, how they bought a house together in New Mexico and planned to build a dream home on the Outer Banks.

She says Heilig promised to care for her for the rest of their lives, but the plan was cut short when Heilig died of a heart attack Sept. 30.

``She gave up everything to be his companion for the last two years,'' said Gerard's attorney, C. Jay Robbins IV. ``They were in love. . . . He wanted to live with her for the rest of their lives and travel with her.''

Heilig's widow, Mary P. Heilig, who is administrator of his estate, was out of town Tuesday and could not be reached for comment. A lawyer handling the estate, Anne B. Shumadine, declined to comment, saying she has not seen the lawsuits.

Heilig, 54, was in the midst of a divorce when he died. His wife filed for divorce in February 1996, accusing Heilig of desertion and abandonment, but the divorce was never finalized.

``I think she had hopes he'd come around, quit whatever he was doing and come back,'' Paul M. Lipkin, Mary Heilig's divorce attorney, said Tuesday.

Heilig apparently died without a will, even though he was a lawyer. That means his entire estate will go to his widow. According to a 1994 financial statement, he was worth about $2 million.

Robbins said he filed the lawsuits so soon after Heilig's death to stop Mary Heilig from spending her late husband's money, including nearly $1 million in stocks and bonds.

One lawsuit seeks a court order to stop distribution of Heilig's property until the dispute is resolved.

Gerard, who is in her 40s, was a development associate with the Salvation Army. According to her lawsuits, she quit her job in November 1995 after assurances from Heilig that he would take care of her financially.

Indeed, according to the lawsuits, Heilig did pay off all of Gerard's credit card debts and the second mortgage on her house in 1995, a total of $35,000.

Both Heilig and Gerard were married during their relationship. Heilig was married 32 years and had two grown children. Gerard is still married, but plans to get a divorce soon, her attorney said. She is living with her parents in Norfolk, but plans to seek work and live in New Mexico.

``Miss Gerard was in love with George Heilig. That's a fact,'' Robbins said. She was not available for comment.

According to the lawsuits, here is how the relationship developed:

Heilig and Gerard met in May 1994 at the Kiwanis Ocean View Festival, where both were volunteers. A few months later, she joined the Kiwanis.

In the summer of 1995, she asked Heilig for help with a Kiwanis project and the two became ``very good friends.''

In October 1995, the couple ``began to realize how special (their) friendship had become'' and they decided to move to New Zealand together. Soon after, Heilig gave Gerard his financial statement to prove he could afford to take care of her. That statement was filed in court Tuesday.

In November 1995, Heilig drove to Madison County, Va., north of Charlottesville, to be with Gerard and a friend. While driving back, he decided he wanted to leave with Gerard for New Zealand that night. He never did.

Heilig told Gerard he would move $200,000 into an account in her name, then changed his mind, saying it would be better to make her the beneficiary of his investment account, which was worth about $875,000 at the time.

He also promised to transfer to Gerard other financial and retirement accounts.

That weekend, Gerard told her husband about her relationship with Heilig and that she was leaving. She cleaned out her Salvation Army office the next day. Two days later, Heilig paid off the credit card and second-mortgage debts owed by Gerard and her husband.

At the same time, Gerard signed over to her husband title of the car and two houses that they jointly owned. She did this on assurances that Heilig would take care of her, the lawsuit says.

About this time, Heilig resigned from his Norfolk law firm and disappeared for two months. Friends and political colleagues wondered if he would return for the upcoming General Assembly session. He did.

The lawsuits also say:

While Heilig was missing, he was actually in New Mexico with Gerard. In January 1995, they bought a house in New Mexico as joint owners. The deed was filed Tuesday in the Norfolk court with the lawsuits.

Soon after, Gerard's father called Heilig in Richmond, apparently while the General Assembly was in session. Heilig assured the father that he would take care of Gerard and that she ``would want for nothing.''

After the 1996 General Assembly session, Heilig returned to New Mexico to stay with Gerard for four months, flying back and forth for meetings in Norfolk, as needed. He returned to Norfolk in July 1996, but often flew back and forth to New Mexico to be with Gerard, telling friends in Norfolk he was on golf trips.

In December 1996, Heilig and Gerard bought a vacant lot near Frisco, N.C., on Hatteras Island, where they planned to build a house. That deed, too, was filed in the Norfolk court Tuesday, along with the house plans.

Finally, in May 1997, Heilig announced that he would not run for re-election. He bought a 42-foot Hatteras motor yacht. He and Gerard lived on it until he died.

Heilig was with Gerard on the yacht when he died of a heart attack Sept. 30, the lawsuits say. They had just left Norfolk for a trip to Hatteras.

The lawsuits claim that Heilig's estate, and his widow, are now obligated to honor Heilig's promises to Gerard. The lawsuits claim that those promises constitute a contract.

``I don't think there's any question George Heilig meant every word of what he said to her,'' Robbins said. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

Del. George H. Heilig Jr., who died Sept. 30, had bought property

with the woman, her suit says. KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT

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