A Court in Louisiana declared 87-year-old billionaire Tom Benson (owner of NFL Saints and NBA Pelicans Professional Sports Teams), mentally competent. As discussed in my blog of June 8, 2015, titled “Saints Owner Tom Benson Completes the First Week of Competency Trial” that issue was being litigated.
The Court ruling allows Mr. Benson to continue to operate his businesses and personal affairs. However, the main issue is still the Professional Sports Teams which are his biggest assets. Those Professional Sports Teams were previously placed in Trust for the benefit of Tom Benson’s daughter and two (2) adult grandchildren because they were not only the “apples of his eye” but had been running those Professional Sports Teams for a number of years. Recently Mr. Benson’s current wife decided that the adult daughter and adult grandchildren should no longer be able to talk to or see their father/grandfather. That is when the litigation started. Therefore, the southern gothic family battle over assets is not over.
The Court Trial regarding Tom Benson’s incompetency could have been avoided by having Mental Disability Planning done inside of a Revocable Living Trust, aka Living Trust, aka Family Trust.
We will stay tuned to see what happens next in this age-old story of family members battling the later spouse over family money.
At the Law Firm of Steven Andrew Jackson, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, we have helped hundreds of families protect themselves and their loved ones, avoid Estate Taxes and Probate Costs, and keep their Estate Plans current with the law through The Customized Protective Estate Planning Solution™.