Amy Pinto-Walsh: Kinkade’s Handwritten Wills, 2000 Will, and Settlement

Amy Pinto-Walsh was Thomas Kinkade’s live-in girlfriend and personal assistant at the time the commercially successful “Painter of Light” died in April 2012, and she became the central figure in a public estate fight after producing two handwritten wills she said he had written in late 2011 leaving her his Monte Sereno mansion, $10 million in cash, and instructions to fund a museum for his art. Her claim collided with a formal 2000 will executed by Kinkade and his estranged wife of 30 years, Nanette Kinkade. After eight months of litigation in Santa Clara County, the two sides announced a confidential settlement on December 19, 2012.¹

Who She Was to Kinkade

Pinto-Walsh was 48 when Kinkade died. She had been dating him for roughly 18 months and had moved into his estate on Ridgecrest Avenue in Monte Sereno, California.² Her LinkedIn profile at the time listed her as a senior business-development manager at a local consulting firm.³ She was the person who found Kinkade and called 911 on April 6, 2012; the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner later ruled his death an accident caused by acute ethanol and diazepam intoxication.⁴

In February 2011, she signed a confidentiality agreement with Kinkade that identified her as his “companion and personal assistant” and gave her access to his trade secrets, including his painting techniques.³ Her lawyers later said in court papers that she and Kinkade had planned to marry in Fiji once his divorce from Nanette was finalized.⁵ Kinkade and Nanette had been legally separated for more than two years and had already divided some assets in 2010, a division that, according to Pinto-Walsh’s filings, gave Kinkade sole ownership of the Monte Sereno home.⁶

The Two Handwritten Wills

Pinto-Walsh’s attorneys filed two handwritten notes with the Santa Clara County Superior Court’s probate division on May 24, 2012.⁷ Under California law, holographic wills can be valid without witnesses if the material provisions and signature are in the testator’s own handwriting.⁸

The first note, dated November 18, 2011, read in part: “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.”⁵ The second, dated December 11, 2011, directed that an additional $10 million go toward establishing a “Thomas Kinkade Museum” at the Monte Sereno compound to display his original paintings.⁹

The Competing 2000 Will and What Was at Stake

The notes conflicted directly with the formal will and trust that Thomas and Nanette Kinkade had executed with an attorney in 2000. That earlier plan did not name Pinto-Walsh and designated Nanette and the Windermere Holding Company as executors.⁶ Pinto-Walsh’s lawyers argued the 2011 notes revoked it.

The parties disagreed sharply about how much was at stake. Nanette’s 2000 will cited roughly $12.48 million in assets. Pinto-Walsh’s filings put the figure at $66.3 million, mostly art. The Monte Sereno compound, known as “Ivy Gate,” was valued at more than $7 million in court documents, with a $2.2 million mortgage.¹⁰ Her attorney Sonia Agee sought legal authority for Pinto-Walsh to oversee the entire estate.²

The Legal Fight

The litigation moved on several tracks across 2012. Within days of Kinkade’s death, Windermere Holdings accused Pinto-Walsh of violating her confidentiality agreement by speaking to reporters, calling her conduct a “calculated attempt to garner money and fame at the expense of the grieving Kinkade family.”¹¹ On April 16, 2012, a Santa Clara County judge granted a 15-day restraining order against her. Kinkade’s bodyguard and driver, Dean Baker, submitted a declaration describing her as “impulsive and erratic” and claiming she had told Kinkade, “I will tear you down.”¹² Kinkade’s brother Patrick offered a different picture, calling her a “sweet person” who “cared about Thom.”³ Nanette Kinkade publicly described her as a “gold digger.”⁹

A major procedural question was whether the dispute would stay in open probate court or move to private arbitration. The estate argued the confidentiality agreement required arbitration. Pinto-Walsh’s team, from Burke, Williams & Sorensen, argued the agreement was void because it tied her to a job title, “director of strategic projects,” she had never actually been hired for.¹³ On June 14, 2012, the court ruled that certain issues, including the validity of the confidentiality agreement and a dispute over a medical directive for Kinkade’s remains, would go to binding arbitration. The question of whether the holographic wills were valid stayed with the probate court.⁷

On the wills themselves, the core issue was Kinkade’s mental capacity to make binding bequests in late 2011 given his documented struggle with alcohol. Her lead attorney, Douglas W. Dal Cielo, argued Kinkade was of sound mind, that the two notes written a month apart showed consistent intent, and that under California case law “alcoholics have mental capacity” to execute legal documents. The estate’s side countered that the handwriting itself suggested intoxication or physical impairment when the notes were written.¹⁴

While the larger case continued, Pinto-Walsh kept living in the Monte Sereno house. In September 2012, the court gave her three options: vacate, cover all property expenses including the mortgage, or pay fair rental value. On September 17, 2012, she was ordered to pay $11,000 per month in rent, retroactive to July 1. The estate had sought $12,500; her lawyers had proposed $8,500, citing a loss of privacy from round-the-clock security the court declined to remove.¹⁵

The Confidential Settlement

A hearing was set for December 3, 2012, with both sides directed to compile lists of personal items in the home.¹⁶ Before the case reached trial, the parties settled. On December 19, 2012, attorneys for Nanette Kinkade and Amy Pinto-Walsh announced an agreement, calling the resolution “amicable” and saying it preserved Kinkade’s message of “love, spirituality and optimism.” The terms were not disclosed. Neither side has said publicly who got the mansion, how the art was divided, or whether money changed hands.¹

1
KCRA. $66M Kinkade Estate Dispute Secretly Settled
2
CBS News. Thomas Kinkade’s Widow, Girlfriend Face Off in Court Over Estate of Painter of Light
3
Marin Independent Journal. Artist Thomas Kinkade’s Girlfriend Accused of Being Gold Digger Out for Money and Fame
4
Jacksonville.com. Autopsy: Thomas Kinkade Died of Overdose of Alcohol, Valium
5
NBC Bay Area. Thomas Kinkade Girlfriend Says She Gets House, Painter’s Millions
6
ABA Journal. Widow, Girlfriend Square Off in Legal Battle Over Dead Artist’s Estate
7
Patch. Thomas Kinkade Girlfriend Fights Estate’s Request
8
FindLaw. California Probate Code Section 6111
9
ABC News. Girlfriend and Wife Fight Over Dead Artist’s Estate
10
Forbes. In Battle for Thomas Kinkade Estate, Girlfriend Doesn’t Have a Prayer
11
CBS News. Thomas Kinkade’s Estate Granted Restraining Order Against Painter’s Girlfriend
12
ABC News. Thomas Kinkade’s Death Sparks Feud Between Girlfriend, Wife, Company
13
Patch. Thomas Kinkade’s Girlfriend Seeks Damages for Alleged Violations
14
East Bay Times. Painter Thomas Kinkade’s Estate Battle Centers on Validity of Handwritten Wills
15
Patch. Judge Orders Thomas Kinkade’s Girlfriend Pay $11K Rent
16
CBS News San Francisco. Late Painter Kinkade’s Girlfriend Paying $11K Mansion Rent