Leonard Cohen’s son and daughter sue trustee appointed to oversee late star’s $48m estate and allege he forged papers to ‘fleece’ their late dad’s fortune

• Leonard Cohen’s children have sued the appointed trustee in charge of their father’s $48 million estate and allege he forged documents to gain control 
• Lorca Cohen, 48, and Adam Cohen, 50, have been in an ongoing battle with attorney Robert Kory, 72, who took over the singer’s assets when he died in 2016
• The children’s attorney argue that the singer’s trust designating his assets to them was ‘swapped’ after he died 
•  Leonard’s attorney argued he was instructed to assign Kory as the trustee of his assets because the singer didn’t trust his children 

Singer Leonard Cohen’s children sued the trustee appointed to over their late father’s $48 million estate and allege he fleeced their dad’s fortunes more than a decade ago.

Lorca Cohen, 48, and Adam Cohen, 50, filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court against attorney Robert Kory, 72, more than a year ago and said he forged documents in 2005 to take control of the singer’s assets.

The singer, who was 82 when he died in 2016, is known for his hit song ‘Hallelujah.’ Leonard left behind an archive worth more than $48 million, which includes about 250 journals he has kept since he was a boy, poetry, books, hundreds of photos, and millions of dollars in royalties. 

‘Leonard Cohen’s lawyers and manager forged his trust so they could fleece the estate of millions of dollars and steal the Hall of Famer’s legacy from his own children,’ attorney Adam Streisand told The New York Post. 

Leonard Cohen’s children have sued the appointed trustee in charge of their father’s $48 million estate and allege he forged documents to gain control

Lorca Cohen, 48, and Adam Cohen, 50, have been in an ongoing battle with attorney Robert Kory, 72, who took over the singer’s assets when he died in 2016. Pictured: Lorca and Leonard

Adam Cohen (above) is also suing Kory. He is seen above holding. reward in honor of his father in 2017 

Robert Kory, 72, took over Leonard’s estate. He has since published a book on the singer’s behalf and is set to open an exhibit 

The children’s attorney argue that the singer’s trust designating his assets to them was ‘swapped’ after he died. Pictured: Leonard (center) with Adam (right) and Lorca (left) 

Before he died, Leonard had left Kory in charge of his affairs – which Lorca and Adam now call a mistake.

Streisand claimed that the singer left behind two different signed versions of his trust with one leaving his assets to Lorca, Adam and his ex-wife Anjani Thomas, according to the Post. 

‘This one and only true version of the Trust appoints Adam, Lorca and Anjani Thomas,’ the court documents read. 

But Streisand argued that the trust that designated Leonard’s children was ‘swapped out’ after he died. 

In court filing, Lorca and Adam claim Leonard came to appreciate in his waning days that he had made a grave error by allowing Kory to insinuate himself into Leonard’s affairs and take control over virtually every aspect of Leonard’s finances and legacy.

Lorca and Adam further insisted that Kory hired Ryan Kory, his son to help with the singer’s assets and archive documents, including copies of his songs along with thousands of photographs.  

Kory has since gained monetary benefits off of Leonard’s estate by publishing a novel about the singer called ‘A Ballet of Lepers’ and launching an exhibit in a Canada art gallery, ‘Everybody Knows.’ 

Despite not having control of their father’s estate, Lorca and Adam receive $400,000 each year. 

Streisand claimed that the singer left behind two different signed versions of his trust with one leaving his assets to Lorca, Adam and his ex-wife Anjani Thomas. Pictured: Thomas and Adam 

Despite not having control of their father’s estate, Lorca and Adam receive $400,000 each year. Pictured: then 16-year-old Lorca with Leonard 

A lawyer for Leonard said the singer told him to change his estate trustee to Kory 

Reeve Chudd, a lawyer for the singer, wrote in a letter that Leonard requested he make Kory in charge of his estate.

‘In 2016, without Mr. Kory’s request, Mr. Cohen instructed me to change the successors trustee to Mr. Kory,’ Chudd wrote in a letter that is in the court filing. ‘He was concerned that his children didn’t have a sufficiently comfortable relationship to work together upon the complexities of the artist’s estate.

The letter continued: ‘While Mr. Cohen didn’t wish for this change in succession of trusteeship to be revealed to his children, Mr. Kory insisted, and this was explained to Adam and Lorca at a meeting in September 2015.’  

Kory has denied foul play and said he has properly communicated with the singer’s children about his affairs, including the launch of Leonard’s book and the exhibit, according to The Post. 

He also insisted that he also sends Lorca and Adam monthly financial statements.

Leonard was born in Canada in 1932 and died ‘peacefully’ in his Los Angeles home on November 10, 2016

His career in music spanned almost five decades. He was inducted into the the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Leonard was born in Canada in 1932 and died ‘peacefully’ in his Los Angeles home on November 10, 2016.

Just three weeks before he died, the star released his final album ‘You Want It Darker’ and believed it was ‘one of his greatest records’.

Music fans called 2016 an ‘annus horribilis’ because Leonard died in a year where David Bowie and Prince also passed away.

His first big hit was So Long Marianne in 1967, written about his Norwegian lover Marianne Jensen, who died of cancer in August.

In a revealing letter sent to her days before she died Cohen said: ‘I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine’.

Before his musical stardom he spent ten years before that as an acclaimed poet and novelist but turned to music to ‘pay the bills’.

His career in music spanned almost five decades, and saw him inducted into the the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Source: Read Full Article