What is the deal with all of the negative stories about Luann lately? It’s one after the other lately!
The latest story claims that Count Alexandre de Lesseps and their two children are taking Luann to court for breaching their divorce agreement. It appears that in the divorce she was given a sum of money to purchase a house. She bought the house in Sag Harbor with that money. Supposedly, the house was to be put into a trust giving her two child 50% ownership of the house/trust. They kids are now alleging that she never set up the trust.
Since Luann’s arrest, and her newfound sobriety, she wants to remove herself from The Hamptons and the constant summer parties, and buy a place in upstate New York that is more tranquil and secluded. This means she is going to sell the Sag Harbor house. According to TMZ, the Count and the kids are going to sue her for violating the divorce decree and demand half the value of the house.
This seems odd to me. Just ten days ago they were happily celebrating Lu’s six month of sobriety as a family. The top photo was posted with the caption, “Greatest reunion ever! Wonderful to spend the weekend with the kids and The Count. Also counting my blessings! Celebrating 6 months of sobriety! Happy 4th of July, everyone! @noeldelesseps @victoriadelesseps #onedayatatime #lovemyfamily #grateful #rhony #countess” Lu is always hanging out with her kids and was with her daughter in LA taking selfies together quite recently! Also, I presume her will leaves everything to the two children. Why do they need $1.5 million dollars from the divorce settlement?
And who the hell is behind all of these stories? Also today divorce record’s of Luann’s new beau began to circulate. He’s been married twice. Once for six months and once for four years. Both divorces seemed contentious and he seemed sort of shady with his finances in both divorces.
She has horrible taste in men. Period.
Did she have a publicist go work for Dorinda too?
LOL!
Omg that would explain it
I wasn’t much of a Luann fan in the past, but I love her this year. She’s been through hell and seems to have learned from her past mistakes. It’s humbled her and made her much more relatable. I don’t know who has been spreading negative information about her, but it’s gotten to the point of being ridiculous. If/when she sells the Sag Harbor house and buys a place upstate, she can set up a trust at that time. And, you’re right, she has only the two children so I’m sure they’ll get everything she has when Luann passes away. What a nasty issue for someone to make public.
I mean, if it’s true (sounds like a crock of shit to me) it’s warranted if that was part of her divorce agreement.
I smell a rat…
Reckon it’s Ramona?
I don’t see anything wrong with this. It’s protection for the kids & a contractual agreement. I am positive Luann will do what she is supposed to do. Non scandal in my book.
You are so right. I thought that yesterday with the headline reading that she is dating a married man, when you get to the facts in the article, he is in the midst of a divorce. So the headline is misleading and so many people don’t take the time to read so they just jumped all over it maligning her. I thought it was Tom. Or his girlfriend. But now, this business with the count seems really strange. I also saw that post of the two of them and her saying how he adores her, and even starting rumors that they were getting back together. It seems ridiculous that they would give her that much trouble. And exactly, why do the kids need the money now. I really like Luann. They need to back off her. Sonja was saying last night on WWHL how they have been hanging out a lot, obviously not filming but really as friends.
I think it’s just protection of the kids. If no trust is or will be set up then there is a possibilty that should she get married, sued, or pass while anyone else is legally with her then it would go to them as marital property/profit. The trust would go in conjunction of a will and negate state laws of marital assets meaning they couldn’t touch that 50%. If she remains alive a trust is the only thing that makes that an untouchable asset. Maybe when they were all together she just mentioned purchasing a new place which triggered the trust topic….
Finally! A reasonable comment. She should protect her assets for her children.
When i read this – I thought – did Lu forget to put the kids share in a trust fund? it’s not as if any of these family members know what $$ Lu is using.
odd
I’m always rooting for LuAnn. Ever since I watched the ‘Before They Were Housewives’ show about her and listened to all she’s gone through I’m a huge fan and always will be. I’m a girl’s girl and will always root for those who are just trying to get through life and be happy no matter what is thrown at her. Since I heard that story about her stuck in the snowstorm and she didn’t know if she’d make it out alive I had a newfound respect for her on another level. It was a great show. I don’t care what the tabloids say about Lu I’ll always root for her 1000%.
I agree it’s for the safety of the kids for them to have 1/2 that was intended for them in the trust in case of her death or a new marriage. It could also be a part of a child support agreement as well to have a trust set up like this. Should be an easy fix if they just want money set aside it could come from the sale of the house. Maybe the issue is though that the kids want to keep the house she is planning to sell.
She has had YEARS to comply with this. After papers are signed, you do not get to choose what you will and will not comply with. While no one is owed an inheritance, in THIS case it was ordered for the funds to be in a trust back when her kids were both still minors. No matter how old they are now, it is what SHE agreed to and is in the final decree, so she needs to follow through. She is lucky that the failure to set up a trust is the only issue. They could have also gone after her for money lost by her failure to comply in a timely fashion.
What this about is the sale of the first house in the Hamptons that her and the count owned together-she sold it and that money was to be put into a trust for her kids after she brought the 2nd place, she never did that. Now she wants to sell this place and get another. This was in the divorce agreement. No one is writing bad stories
I just don’t get how half a house she didn’t own yet is part of money for the kids trust? This whole thing seems weird to me. Maybe they agreed to put in a certain amount each for the kids’ trust?
I thought it was to be funds from the sale of the Bridgehampton house that she was awarded in the divorce. That is the house shown in the first few seasons of the show. She then sold that (without diverting funds to a trust) and bought the cute house in Sag Harbor…where Carole pounced on young virginal Adam (according to Lu). Now she wants to sell that and use the proceeds to buy a new upstate weekend home.
It is supposed to be from the Bridgehampton house which she sold for $8M. That’s how she got the money for the Sag Harbor cottage.
I just read the complaint filed by the Plaintiff’s and if what they allege is true Luann messed up and didn’t do what she promised to do when she and Alex divorced. While true, she may die and leave everything to her children, that doesn’t guarantee any set amount to the kids. In that document the kids were to get over 1 million each. Luann as trustee has a duty to make a trust profitable so by the time they (the kids) were to receive their trusts they could have well over the principal amount through prudent investments. She essentially misappropriated A LOT of money that was intended for the children. A court order is the only way to get her to comply because she knew what she was supposed to do nearly 10 years ago and didn’t do it. Now it’s time to get the court involved. There are a lot of what if’s that could happen between now and the time she dies. She could remarry, which triggers community property. She could become a spendthrift and blow all the money. It’s sad that it got to this point, but it was all intended to protect the children, that’s what trusts are for, to avoid probate and protect your assets.
When you read the complaint, we’re the kids suing individually, or was the count suing on behalf of them. This is a big distinction, and would help define at least publicly the status of her relationship with the children.
Thanks – no other source has stated the specifics.
I found it. It is a badly written complaint.The kids had a half interest in the Bridgehampton house. When she sold it for 8 million 4 million should have been put into a trust and she could have kept 4 million, put 3.1 million into the Sag Harbor house and kept $900K. So she must have dissipated the $4 million. Very confusing, but that;’s what the diveroce settlement says.
Tamara — call the lawyers and straighten this out.
Heads up – there’s documents. floating around – sorta breaks my heart.
Is her divorce from Tom completely final, as well as the financials? I know the financial stuff can drag out for a bit, so I’m wondering *if* this is true, if the lawsuit is some kind of formal way to protect the assets of the house for the kids trust/inheritance?
The divorce from Tom went very quickly. There was a prenup so there was nothing to argue about.
Ah ok, thanks!
This sounds like a paperwork snafu or oversight to me. It’s also possible that whatever lawsuit was filed was done by lawyers overseeing the kids interests and not the kids or the Count themselves. It is odd that this landed in the news, it doesn’t seem that scandalous at least not of yet. Especially because Lu seems to have such a great relationship with her kids and the Count.
From my understanding a Trust is setup so your assets are automatically transferred to your heirs, upon your death, without going through probate and having to pay death taxes. It also can’t be touched from outsiders making claims.
Lucky for Lu that divorcing Tom was a clean break. She needs to set this up since her kids will be her heirs anyway.
Normally I really like Lu, but this is not a good look. She agreed to put the house in a trust for the good of her family, including her. That’s a great idea, very protective against a lot possible situations. She didn’t do that and instead the proceeds from the house are hers alone. That’s sketchy to me. It suggests she may be the type that might blow the money somehow, and the trust was meant to protect against claims against Lu personally. Obviously just my opinion and yes I overinterpret!
As I mentioned bove, I’m curious as to whether the kids filed singally against their mother, or if it was done in their behalf. Big distinction with respect to the relationships. Especially when we have just read about how ” close\missy gave the count and countless have recently been. Need more factual details T M Z
Kissy face they have been. Spell check can eat me.
We have a “ REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST” so if one spouse dies, the entire estate passes to the surviving spouse without probate and/or if we both pass it goes to our child in the same way.
It seems odd to me that the kids had any part of her divorce settlement. I assume the Count is loaded, won’t he be leaving his fortune to the kids? Someone really has it out for Lu with all the stories trying to paint her in a bad light lately.
The European aristocracy has a long history of being short of funds and long on title. In the 19th century merchants became so wealthy that they sometimes deigned to marry those ‘beneath’ them, pumping some money back into their coffers. It’s tough to be an entire family above working for for to six or more generations.
If like someone wrote above the money she received fir new house was from the sale of anotger house then he signed his half over to her to use but his half was to be in trust for the kids.
My ex and I agreeded to sign our half of house over to each other if we died. He changed his mind and signed his half over to his kids when he dies.
I was so ticked off, I did the same thing. I wanted this house for myself yet everything I have goes to the boys.
It was the idea of sharing my home ownership with my sons. I will sell the minute that happens.
Reunion time is around the corner. This might explain the negative stories.
If you sold property A for 8 million and bought property B for 3 million, what happened to the 5 million difference?
Bingo!!
I have a really hard time understanding LuAnn’s logic sometimes. It was reported that the Count wanted her to drop the Countess title as he thought it was giving the family a bad name. And now this.Her assets should have been locked up in a trust a long time ago. She is lucky she hasn’t been sued by anyone as sue happy as people are nowadays. She could have had lawsuits that go after her home and assets or put a lien on her house for damages that would affect her children’s portion since her homes were not protected. I like her but her judgement sometimes I wonder.
Luanne is on fire lately. Loving her so much. She’s a savvy lady. Perhaps the weekend with the count and kids were partly spent plotting her dramatic storyline for next season?? . She is by far the most interesting and entertaining woman on rhony.
Found it interesting that Bravo’s RHONY-Mamma Mia! movie commercials featured Luann and her daughter (as well as Dorinda and daughter) after Luann’s recent criminal escapades. Now this story comes out? I wonder if they will pull the commercials with her in them.
It’s normal in a divorce. The spouse retains a large asset such as a home for the sake of raising the children. ALl or some of the home belongs to the children.
Luann has shown that she falls for men quickly. Marrying Tom for 7 months despite all the warning signs is a red flag. Any large asset meant for the children should be protected. Even if she has a pre nup, that can be contested.
Still, I would have a very hard time suing my mother.
The Count seems to have made a smart move. It would be smarter still to not divorce until the trust was established. If I remember correctly he was anxious to move on with a nubian Princess
I don’t believe this at all.
Firstly the WSJ put the Count’s net worth at the time of the divorce at $100 million.
From what she said, she originally got the family home in the Hamptons free and clear in the divorce.
She sold it at around $10 million and bought a much smaller, less expensive home.
Why wouldn’t the kids and the Count have sued her then?
So six years after she sold the house in question, she THEN gets sued?
Bullshit.
For those who asked, there are three plaintiff on the suit. But only the kids will be beneficiaries is the court rules in their favor. The case against Lu seems to be pretty cut and dry.
But the entire thing is puzzling. Why not set up the trust for the kids at the time of the divorce? Why is the Countess the only one setting up the trust? The Count is the person with all the money. It has been years since she sold the martial home. Why not sue then? Also, the article appeared on TMZ THE SAME DAY IT WAS FILED In the Hamptons! That’s some quick reporting. Sounds like one of the kids sold the story to TMZ. Why are they trying to keep her from selling the new home which is less than half the price of the old house? Why not just sue her for the $4million dollars and start the trust?
There is more to this story than the initial court documents suggest.
Maybe because they suspect the four million from the original sale is gone? Or at least partially gone? I can’t imagine Lu intentionally bilking her kids out of their inheritance. That’s why I first figured it was a paperwork mess up. But, the more I read the worse it seems. It’s so weird that it landed in the news the same day it was filed.
Has Luann released any kind of statement in regards to this lawsuit?
If not I find her silence very interesting
I would not make a statement at all! It is in litigation. It’s not anyone’s business.
Did I understand it correctly that the first place was 8 million and the two kids were supposed to have half of that. Four million for both children with Luann having four million for herself. She sold that house and purchased a home for 3.5 million in San Harbor. What happened to the 4 million lost when the Bridgehampton house sold. Maybe it was invested. However, with her arrest, her terrible marriage, and the simple fact that she’s aging, it only seems wise to ensure the trust is in order. I don’t think it means her ex and her kids hate her. It’s just financial. He probably should have ensured it was done before that 8 million house sold years ago.
Sorry Tamara, I just saw that you explained this. We may be in different times zone. Thanks.
I really do find this story so interesting. It looks like the issue is with the sale of the present house. I thought she was very savvy in selling the first house for a huge profit, and buying a more modest house. I assumed that the money left after the closing costs, taxes, etc., was in an account ….for her and her children. Furniture, clothes, college, Tom, drinks, bailing your daughter out of jail for dui, lawyers. It adds up.
Now that house is on the market for far more than the purchase price. Didn’t she get Tom to pay for the recent remodel? Smart cookie.
I’m not aware of real estate prices in the Catskills. Must be less than Hamptons, leaving her with a tidy profit. So that has to be the issue. What if kids don’t want to leave? They want their share as promised by their father. With Lu dating a new loser, I would be worried that mom forgot about my money.
I can picture Bethenny telling us all, “Its not real. The money. All fake. Except me.”
Sounds to me as if Lu is doing what Sonja should have done — sell for a big profit, downsize, and live on the profit. Unfortunately for Lu’s kids, it looks like Lu played fast and loose with their share and it’s probably dwindling or gone, which might be a part of the reason she put the “new” place up for sale.
I could see how when the Count got wind of her listing this place that she bought with the proceeds from the sale of a house half of which was supposed to be put in trust for the kids, and if Lu has never accounted for the kids’ share, he’s smart to file suit to protect the kids’ financial interest in the house she’s selling.
Especially if she’s expecting a big profit — because they might be entitled to half the profit as well. And if she gets her mitts on the money before their interest is perfected, who knows what’ll happen to it?
And of course the kids would be named plaintiffs in the suit — they’re both adults now.
Alex, I just read your comment that the issue is that half the funds from the first house were to be in a trust for the kids. They were underage at the time. So dad’s share of the sale was to be set aside.
I wonder if dad sent money all along for children expenses or if the burden was on Lu. A trust seems like an important aspect of the divorce and how is it possible that no one…dad, attorney, banker…never followed up until this month. That money has to go into stocks, or mutual insurance, or simple savings account. Hard to believe no one checked on how that 4 million is doing.