Saints and Pelicans Owner TOM BENSON expects to reach a settlement with trustees for his estranged heirs in litigation over transfer of their team shares out of trusts. The disclosure was made yesterday in a joint motion filed by lawyers from each side asking for extension of deadlines due to the settlement talks. “The parties believe they will have a final confidential settlement agreement completed in the near future,” the motion said. “[I]n the unlikely event that they are unable to complete a final settlement, the extensions of deadlines requested herein will not prevent trial from beginning as currently scheduled on February 6, 2017.” Benson early last year moved to disown his daughter and two grandchildren, and sought to replace their team shares held in trust with promissory notes. The trustees objected and they countersued each other. The trustees have objected overall to the transfer, but the federal judge has ruled Benson can make the switch and the only issue is the value of the teams’ shares. The parties reached a preliminary settlement this summer, only to have that deal falter (Daniel Kaplan, Staff Writer).
QUESTION OF VALUE: In Baton Rouge, Ramon Vargas notes the new disclosure "comes several weeks after it was revealed in court records that the NFL would recommend that other team owners allow Benson to borrow an amount of money" as much as 50% above the league's $250M team debt limit to "aid efforts to settle the case." The question at the center of the lawsuit, filed in March '15, is "whether Benson is offering assets of equal value -- as required by law -- in exchange for business assets he wants to remove from trusts set up" for his daughter, RENEE BENSON, and her children, RITA and RYAN LEBLANC (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 11/17).
