Steve Bing's Out-of-Wedlock Children to Gain Access to Family Trust Fund

LOS ANGELES, January 6, 2020 (Newswire.com) - ​​The Los Angeles Superior Court recently ruled that Kira Kerkorian and Damien Hurley will have access to the trust established by Dr. Peter Bing. This ruling was determined after Judge Daniel Juarez reviewed petitions filed by Trustee William Stinehart as well as oppositions filed by Keystone Law Group regarding the children’s right to inherit. The original petition was based on claims by Peter Bing that his son, Steve Bing, had never lived with either of his children, as both of them were born out of wedlock.

Peter Bing is a multi-millionaire, partly due to the success of his father, Leo Bing. Leo was a wealthy New York real estate developer in the 1920s and left Peter a hefty inheritance.

In 1980, Peter established six trusts for the benefit of his future grandchildren. Because he did not have grandchildren at that time, he did not identify any by name in the trusts. Beneficiaries were instead identified as "first-born grandchild", "second-born grandchild", "third-born grandchild" and so on – all the way to the "sixth-born grandchild".

Peter Bing had two children – Mary and Steve. Mary had two children born into a traditional marriage. Steve never married and had two children out of wedlock. Steve's first child is Kira Kerkorian, who was born to Lisa Bonder Kerkorian. His second child is Damian Hurley, who was born to Elizabeth Hurley.

In 2019, Kira attempted to obtain a copy of Peter Bing's grandchildren trusts, as she believed that she held a beneficial interest. In response to this request, Dr. Bing’s trustee filed petitions in the probate court asking the court to determine that the term "grandchild" should not include Kira or Damian.

Oppositions were then filed by Keystone Law Group – a probate law firm in California specializing in inheritance disputes in LA County. The oppositions filed by Los Angeles trust attorneys argued that the term "grandchild" is not ambiguous and it clearly refers to any grandchild who is biologically related to Peter, regardless of their parents' decision to marry or live together.

After hearing the arguments, Judge Juarez ruled in favor of Kira and Damian without the need for a trial. He determined that the word “grandchild” offers no ambiguity, stating, “These restrictive, limiting, further definitions unreasonably distort the term's clear and plain use in the Trusts. The Trusts contain no conditions, limitations, qualifications, or restrictions on the term ‘grandchild.’ The term, as used in the Trusts, is not reasonably susceptible to any alternate meaning.” Mary's children have filed an appeal to the ruling. It is currently pending.

Additional Information:

Keystone Law Group has a distinguished reputation in Los Angeles and across Southern California. Focusing exclusively in probate, estate and trust litigation and administration, the Los Angeles probate lawyers routinely work with trustees, executors, heirs, beneficiaries, guardians and conservators.

Media Contact:
Ana Delatorre
310.444.9060
[email protected]

Source: Keystone Law Group, P.C.