As I posted the other day, Tom Benson, the owner of the New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans, recently changed his estate plan to leave his ownership interests in his teams to his 3rd wife instead of his granddaughter.  His granddaughter and other relatives filed suit alleging that he is incompetent and that his changed plan should be barred by the court.  Among other allegations, his family claims that when questioned he thought the current U.S.  President was Reagan or Truman.  He also allegedly lives on “candy, ice cream, sodas, and red wine” and forgot his daughter’s birthday.  The lawsuit portrays his wife, Gayle Benson, as a gold digger.  She allegedly has removed all photos of his daughter and grandchildren from their house while he has changed all of his previous medical care providers.

Several points:

1.  Grounds for contesting a will/trust are absence of mental incapacity (not knowing what one is doing and who one’s heirs would usually be) and undue influence (one person convinces another to leave assets to him/her due to proximity to that person).

2.  On the surface, it seems like there is some evidence of both a lack of mental capacity and undue influence in this matter.

3.  Don’t we all wish that we could live on “candy, ice cream, sodas,and red wine” and that Ronald Reagan was still president?

4.  It would be more appropriate if Gayle Benson were in line to inherit the 49’ers because they are named after real gold diggers.