Liliane Bettencourt, the 87 year old French heiress to the L'Oreal cosmetics empire, has attacked her daughter for questioning her right to donate 1.2 billion in gifts to a 61 year old society photographer. The daughter who stands to inherit the family fortune which includes 30% interest in L'Oreal has sued the photographer for fraud. Now the courtroom drama begins. With such a large sum of money involved, the lawsuit will involve not only the family fortune but politics, power and sex. Yes, it is an estate planning soap opera. As of this writing the trial has been postponed due to tapes made by the butler (yes, the butler did it) and leaked to the press that raises issues of foreign tax shelters and questionable financial transactions. One question asked during all of this is whether there will be any impact on the company, L'Oreal. Well, time will tell but probably the family and the company are separated enough to protect the company, financially, from this particular drama. Leave your comments here or contact us at www.ythlaw.com
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