Lucille Ball's Daughter Wins Case Against Step-Mom, Can't Stop Auction

7/17/10
Judge orders $250,000 bond to hold 'I Love Lucy' memorabilia
Kate Schwab

Lucille Ball’s daughter tried to stop her stepmother from selling family heirlooms at an auction.

In court on Friday, the judge agreed, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien ordered Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill to pony up a $250,000 bond to get her restraining order issued against Susie Morton, according to the Associated Press.

Luckinbill’s attorney, Ronald Palmieri, called the decision “very sad” and said his client could not afford that amount.

“We won on a legal basis, and the judge took it away from us on an economic basis," he said.

Luckinbill is the daughter of Ball and her first husband, Desi Arnaz. Morton is the surviving widow of Ball’s second husband, Gary Morton.

After Luckinbill sought to block her stepmother’s plans to sell some of the I Love Lucy star’s memorabilia through Heritage Auction Galleries, Morton countered with a lawsuit, arguing that Luckinbill lost her rights to the heirlooms after her deceased husband’s estate was settled. The items set for auction include love letters
between Ball and Arnaz, a Rolls-Royce and photographs.

Luckinbill said she wanted to donate the items to a museum exhibit.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Ball, who died in 1989, was not only a comedy star but also a film pioneer. She became the first woman to own her own television studio, which she called Desilu.