Legal fight between Tom Benson and family members brings up serious charges.
The bitter fight between New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson and his daughter and grandchildren has taken a rough turn, according to ESPN in “Saints/Pelicans owner Tom Benson wants ‘zero’ left in trust to daughter, grandchildren.”
The fight between Benson and his daughter and grandchildren began in January 2015 when Benson announced he was leaving his entire estate to his third wife and cutting the daughter and grandchildren out completely. Their response was to file a lawsuit in Louisiana state court alleging that Benson was incompetent.
They lost that case. However, they have also been pursuing another lawsuit against Benson in federal court, which was triggered when Benson transferred ownership shares of his professional sports teams out of a trust set up for the benefit of the daughter and grandchildren. Benson is allowed to transfer the shares as long as he substitutes assets of equal value for them. So far, he has allegedly only offered to replace the shares with promissory notes.