Yeager's daughter told to pay $1M

Chuck Yeager's daughter, who managed the test pilot's assets after the death of his first wife, has been ordered to pay her father nearly $1 million for violating her duties as his trustee in her zeal to protect his wealth from his second wife.

After nearly two years of deliberation, a Nevada County Superior Court referee determined Susan Yeager improperly profited when she had her father's trust buy out her share of property the two co-owned in Northern California near Nevada City.

The ruling found that the daughter, now 55 and living in Hawaii, could keep a family condominium Yeager, 83, had deeded first to her and then to his new wife.

But Susan Yeager was ordered to reimburse the retired general's trust $915,018.68 in profits and back taxes incurred in the land sale and about $38,000 in court costs.

Yeager's lawyer and his heirs indicated the battle might not be over.

Susan Yeager could not be reached for comment, but her brother Don said the heirs plan to appeal the financial judgment. And Yeager's lawyer said the retired general and his new wife are preparing a lawsuit, alleging the children underfunded their father's pension plan.

The case, which has estranged Yeager from his four grown children, cast a harsh light on the family of an American icon, a World War II ace fighter pilot who went on to break the sound barrier and become the hero of the book and movie "The Right Stuff."

The emotional center of the dispute is the widower's decision in 2003 to marry Victoria Scott d'Angelo, 36 years his junior and a former actress his children distrusted.

In interviews, Yeager and his second wife contended the children feared losing control of their father's fortune.

Court records show more than 30 lawsuits and numerous restraining orders filed by or against d'Angelo.