Tom Benson is the owner of the NFL Saints and the NBA Pelicans. Both professional sports teams are located in New Orleans, Louisiana. His heirs have sought to have him found an incompetent adult and therefore unable to handle his own affairs (they are seeking control of his financial affairs). He had a mental fitness test with a New Orleans Mental Health Professional last week.
“Was I surprised?” Benson said. “I think so, because when your family attacks you, it’s kinda hard to take, hard to understand.” It’s an ugly story that promises to get uglier. Especially if it goes to trial.
Mental Disability Planning does need to be provided for as part of your Estate Plan. It can be provided in your Estate Planning through your Living Trust aka Revocable Living Trust. They say we are six (6) to nine (9) times more likely in a given year to become mentally incompetent than we are to die.
As discussed last year in these blogs, Donald Sterling had planning that covered mental incompetency inside of his Living Trust. His wife was able to use that planning when they sold their professional NBA Clippers basketball team for a record 2 billion dollars to one of the founders of Microsoft.
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™.