Did you expect this? I don’t know if I did.
I realize that I’ve reported on this case more times than I think it was worth, but hey.
But Samantha Perelman has lost her lawsuit against her uncle, whom she sued for, she claimed, influencing her dying grandfather. It’s all about big money. I mean, Big Money.
Odd, that I just linked you to a Times story about how wills − leaving not all that much money, either − can tear families apart.
The New York Times story begins:
The bitter legal fight involving Samantha Perelman, the daughter of the billionaire investor Ronald O. Perelman, came to an end on Wednesday, when a superior court judge ruled that Ms. Perelman’s uncle did not cut her out of her inheritance by unfairly manipulating her dying grandfather.
The ruling ends the latest chapter in a lengthy, caustic legal battle that has exposed the last days of Robert B. Cohen, the former head of the magazine and newspaper wholesaler Hudson Media, and the ugly private infighting and litigation of an extraordinarily wealthy family.
“This trial was a heavy and intense challenge considering the unyielding advocacy fed by unlimited funds,” Judge Estela M. De La Cruz wrote in her 93-page decision.
So, while I’d like to say that it’s better not to be rich or born into a rich family because things can get so nasty, “rich” is in the eye of the heir who maybe wasn’t left as much as she thought she should get.
These two stories, though, both involve accusations of influence upon dying elderly relatives, at least one of whom was not compos mentis.