Tag Archives: fortune heirs Trusts Celebrity Court Drama

L’Oreal fortune fight leads to interesting criminal case

It's been almost a year since The Probate Lawyer Blog featured a story on the court battle over whether the heiress to the L'Oreal fortune has been a victim of fraud and exploitation.  87-year old Liliane Bettencourt has been called Europe's richest woman.  In the article I wrote last December, I explained how Bettencourt's daughter, Francois Bettencourt Meyers, sued to prove that a celebrity photographer had received gifts from the elder Bettencourt of more than one billion dollars by preying on her mental frailty.  Liliane-bettencourt

The gift recipient, Francois-Marie Banier, and Bettencourt said she was competent and made the gifts of her own free will because they were dear friends.  And yes, they said, it's a lot of money, but considering her fortune has been recently valued at $13 billion (U.S. value) by Forbes, it's not that much money.  (Anyone buy that?)

I had suggested last year that I found it odd that Meyers hadn't started a guardianship proceeding to have her mother declared legally incompetent.  Well, now she has Read more...

December 23, 2009 | 2 Comments

Tom Carvel Estate: A tale of fortune, fraud, ice cream, and murder?

Tom Carvel was the creator of soft serve ice cream and one of the founding fathers of the franchise system in America.  When his ice cream truck suffered a flat tire in New York in 1934, he sold his melting ice cream from a parking lot.  Those humble beginnings led to the first soft-serve ice cream store and eventually grew into the Carvel ice cream chain with 850 locations.  Carvel died in 1990 at age 84, with a fortune conservatively estimated at around $80 million.  The legal fighting started soon thereafter.Tom-carvel  And it hasn’t stopped yet.

The battles have passed through federal courts in three states, along with state courts in New York, Florida, Delaware, and even England (not New England … England!).  Reportedly, legal fees and commissions have already cost the Carvel financial legacy more than $28 million.

On one side was Pamela Carvel, Tom’s niece.  She helped Tom’s widow, Agnes, through years of court battles until she passed in 1998 at age 89.  In fact, the pair lived

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December 15, 2009 | 2 Comments

Brooke Astor Trial: Will his son ever see jail time? Should he?

The Brooke Astor trial was a fascinating portrayal of greed and exploitation involving New York’s upper, upper crust society.  You can read The Probate Lawyer Blog’s coverage of the Brooke Astor case here.  Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, and one of her attorneys, Francis X. Morrissey, Jr., were convicted of fraud, larceny, conspiracy and a host of related charges related to management of her financial affairs and changes to her will that occurred after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.Brooke Astor

Brooke Astor trial

Because of this, Anthony Marshall, who is 85 years old, faces up to 25 years in jail.  But whether he actually sees any jail time is a big question.  He will certainly appeal the verdict and his lawyers will pull out every trick in the book to try to keep the millionaire from seeing the inside of a jail cell.

In fact, they’ve already started.  A few days ago, the Associated Press reported that Marshall’s attorneys filed a request asking the judge to dismiss the charges

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December 10, 2009 | 2 Comments

Hearst Family Legal Battle Teaches Important Lessons

CNN and Fortune Magazine recently featured a fascinating article about the legal battle between John Randloph “Bunky” Hearst, Jr., and his ex-wife.  Bunky is one of the grandsons of famed media mogul William Randolph Hearst, who left behind the powerful Hearst Corp.

William Randolph Hearst died in 1951 with a trust and estate worth about $400 million in today’s dollars.  But, more importantly, his trust established a corporate framework that enabled his board of trustees to expand the Hearst holdings into a multi-billion dollar media empire, owning hundreds of magazines, newspapers, television stations, 20% of ESPN,Bunky_barbara_hearst and more.  Here is the wikipedia page about Hearst Corp. that overviews how expansive it is.

William Randolph Hearst’s estate plan is a great example of how trusts can be used to maximize financial legacies and protect your heirs.  While most people don’t have to establish complicated boards to manage extensive business holdings like Hearst, everyone can learn a lesson here.

Livings trusts are the best way to pass along assets (be they vast

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December 1, 2009 | 2 Comments