Perelman had sued her uncle, James Cohen, alleging that her grandfather, Robert Cohen, had slashed her portion of the inheritance he left her as a result of James Cohen’s undue influence. Finding that Robert Cohen had wielded the most power of all, Bergen County Superior Court Judge Estella De La Cruz last year ruled that the family patriarch had always intended for James Cohen to inherit the fortune.
Nine months later the judge ruled that Perelman nevertheless was entitled to a portion of the legal fees she laid out because she had “reasonable cause for suspicion” that James Cohen had exerted undue influence; Robert Cohen had changed his will to cut Perelman’s inheritance several times.