PALM BEACH — The wife of Burt Handelsman, Palm Beach’s largest commercial landowner, has filed for divorce after 67 years of marriage — and she claims he’s been stepping out on her at the ripe old age of 88!
Lucille Handelsman, Lovey to her friends, needs a walker or a wheelchair to get around at 87.
But she cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason why she believes her marriage, started in Brooklyn in 1948, is no longer viable.
Through her attorney, Splitsville Mayor Joel Weissman, Lovey has filed several motions to force Burt to leave their marital residence, a $750,000-condo above Bibi’s pet store at 250 Worth Avenue.
According to court filings, Burt won’t leave. He’s arguing he has to live there because he “patrols” his fiefdom daily to talk to renters, hundreds of store and business owners in the fancy Worth Avenue and South County Road business areas.
Lovey filed for divorce March 16, and already two dozen motions and counter-motions are being argued in the case even before its first hearing.
The Handelsmans’ fortune is mostly real estate not only in Palm Beach but also in Key West, New York City and Greenwich, Connecticut. While Burt has yet to file his financial paperwork, it’s estimated the couple’s fortune could be in the hundreds of millions.
