Beth Bowlen Wallace and Amie Klemmer, the oldest daughters of late Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen, have filed a petition "challenging the validity" of the Bowlen Trust on the grounds their father "lacked capacity and was under undue influence when he signed his estate-planning documents" in '09, according to Nicki Jhabvala of THE ATHELTIC. The filing, made Friday in Arapahoe County (Colo.) Court is the latest in a "lengthy legal back-and-forth that started last year, but significant because it gets to the heart of the dispute between Wallace, Klemmer and the trustees." It could "not only affect the NFL arbitration between them over matters pertaining to ownership of the Broncos, but it could also put Wallace and Klemmer at risk of being disinherited." Bill Bowlen, Pat's brother, filed a lawsuit last October seeking to have the three nonfamily trustees "removed from power for allegedly failing to preserve Pat's estate plan and for not acting in his best interest. The case was dismissed in its entirety in the wake of Pat's death," but the lawsuit "spawned additional court filings, as well as arbitration between the trustees and Wallace and Klemmer." The trustees viewed Bill's lawsuit as an "end-around by Wallace and Klemmer to challenge the trust." Wallace, 49, declared in May '18 that she "wished to become the next controlling owner of the Broncos" but the trustees "immediately declared she was 'not capable or qualified at this time'" (THEATHELTIC.com, 9/13).
INTO THE FILINGS: In Denver, Ryan O'Halloran notes Wallace and Klemmer's original petition, filed in February, was "centered on the trust's validity and its no-contest clause, which is believed to state that any person who challenges the trust or Pat Bowlen's will or power of attorney would be disinherited." If Wallace and Klemmer were "declared to be in violation and disinherited, their right as beneficiaries would skip them and go to their children." Wallace and Klemmer "asked the court to rule the no-contest clause doesn't apply to NFL arbitration so they would not be found in violation of the clause by participating." Brittany Bowlen, 29, stated her desire to succeed her father last October. Broncos President & CEO Joe Ellis last week said that Brittany will "re-join the organization 'some time in November,' and she is generally viewed as the trustees' preferred choice to run the team" (DENVER POST, 9/13).
