A California woman has launched a high-stakes legal battle in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court, claiming DNA testing proves she is the secret daughter of trailblazing sculptor Fred Eversley – and that she’s entitled to a share of his $40 million estate.
Kelly Krechmer, 54, says she has long known the truth of her parentage because her late mother, Patricia, told her for decades that Eversley was her father – and now, she says, genetic evidence backs her up.
‘I sent my saliva to 23andMe in July 2024,’ Krechmer wrote in a May 13 legal filing.
‘The results confirmed my lifelong understanding that Frederick Eversley was my dad.’
Eversley, a pioneering black expressionist celebrated for his sculptures housed in renowned art galleries including the Museum of Modern Art, London’s Tate Gallery, and the Smithsonian, died on March 14 at the age of 83.
The former engineer-turned-artist left behind $27 million in personal property and $12 million in real estate, court records show.
His will, signed September 4, 2024, left the vast majority to his wife of 12 years, Anna Maria Larsson Eversley, and $250,000 each to his siblings, Donald and Rani.
Krechmer’s name was nowhere to be found, and in her filing, she alleges she confronted Eversley decades ago at his SoHo studio, only to be met with a cold denial.
California woman Kelly Krechmer, 54, says DNA testing proves she is the secret daughter of trailblazing sculptor Fred Eversley, pictured
Krechmer say her mother told her for decades that Fred Eversley was her father and she claims genetic evidence backs her up. Pictured, Eversley and wife Anna Maria Larsson in 2024
‘After I explained to the Decedent that I believed he was my father, he denied paternity and refused to take a paternity test, stating that he ‘can’t have kids because I work with toxic substances,’ she said. He allegedly rejected further requests to test.
Krechmer claims she emailed the artist’s studio with her DNA results in August 2024, just a month before his will was finalized but never heard back.
She suspects her message was ‘intercepted’ by his wife.
Attorneys for the estate have hit back hard.
‘We are aware of the lawsuit brought by a woman who now claims to be Fred Eversley’s daughter, despite never having had any relationship with him, never having been acknowledged by him, and playing absolutely no part in his life,’ said lawyers at Silberman Zaretsky PC in a statement said in a statement to the New York Post.
‘This is a transparent and opportunistic attempt to exploit a moment of deep loss for personal gain. The Estate considers this claim entirely meritless and will respond accordingly through the proper legal channels.’
Born in Brooklyn’s East New York neighborhood in 1941, Fred Eversley was an engineering whiz who designed high-powered acoustic devices before turning to art in the late 1960s
A man takes a photo as visitors explore the exhibition, Fred Eversley: Reflecting Back (the World), at the Orange County Museum of Art in Costa Mesa in October 2022
Eversley became a central figure in the Light and Space movement, with his precision-cast sculptures fetching six-figure sums at auction in his later years
Born in Brooklyn’s East New York neighborhood in 1941, Eversley was an engineering whiz who designed high-powered acoustic devices before turning to art in the late 1960s.
He became a central figure in the Light and Space movement, with his precision-cast sculptures fetching six-figure sums at auction in his later years.
More than a year after his death, his legacy is being pulled into a bitter courtroom clash over whether a woman he never named or acknowledged has a rightful place in his lineage – and his fortune.
A hearing in the case is set for January 14, 2026.