A settlement has been reached in the
battle over the estate of former CBGB proprietor Hilly Kristal. At the
center of the dispute was whether Kristal’s ex-wife Karen signed the
business over to her husband in 2005. Karen Kristal was the legal owner
of CBGB, at 315 Bowery, from the club’s start. Kristal’s daughter, Lisa Kristal Burgman,
who was the chief beneficiary of the more than $3 million fortune her
father left, maintains that her mother willingly signed over ownership,
so the money was rightfully her father’s, and now hers. Karen Kristal
and her son, Dana, filed suit in 2007 to reclaim a greater share of the
CBGB estate. In the settlement, Burgman agreed not to pursue
guardianship over her mother, and so Karen Kristal obtained some more
of the fortune than was originally left to her, which Dana said was a
little more than $1 million after the bulk of the fortune went
to taxes and debtors.
CBGB family lawsuit settled
