Daniel O’Brien Sr., 86, the founder of O’Brien’s restaurant in Chicago, has filed a lawsuit accusing his son, Peter O’Brien, 54, of “improperly gaining control of the various family businesses, including real estate, nursing homes and the Whittaker Woods golf course in New Buffalo, Mich.,”
the
Chicago Tribune
reported.
The suit seeks the return of stock holdings and other monetary damages, according to the report.
The two got into a dispute last year over an undisclosed issue at the golf course and have been unable to resolve their differences, according to the suit…. The allegations stem from estate planning Daniel O’Brien started in the early 1990s to transfer ownership of the business to his heirs that would minimize estate taxes when he and wife Mary died.
The senior O’Briens formed several limited partnerships and corporations and gave Peter minority interests in them, the
Tribune
report noted. Their estate planning goal was “to transfer ownership of the businesses over time but not control until they died,” the article said.
The
Tribune
report said the suit alleges that Peter O’Brien, who acted as his parents’ fiduciary, caused them to “execute written instruments that gratuitously transferred legal control of the family businesses to Peter” and that he concealed the “true nature” of the documents. Peter O’Brien’s attorney denies the allegations, the article said. (Source:
Chicago Tribune,
July 19, 2010.)
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