Bright Leaf Red Hot Dog Estate Dispute

John “Buck” Jones was the president and majority shareholder of Carolina Packers which “[s]ince 1941 * * *has been producing a variety of great foods, including sausages, bologna, chili, Red Hots, and [its] famous Bright Leaf Red Hot Dogs.”

Buck, who died in 2005, left a will naming his wife (Jean Lassiter Jones) as the sole beneficiary.

However, in an earlier will, Buck left income from the company to Jean, in trust, with the shares passing to three longtime employees upon Jean’s death.  Jean was also the remainder beneficiary of this will made six months prior to Buck’s death.

The executor of the earlier will (Joe McLeod) claims that Jean exerted undue influence on Buck forcing him to change his will just a month before he died.

Jean simply claims that Buck changed his mind and decided that despite their 47 years of stormy marriage, he wanted to leave everything to her.

For more details, see Marti Maguire, What did the hot-dog man will?, The News & Observer, Jan. 7, 2009.

Special thanks to Alfred Brophy (Reef C. Ivey II Professor of Law, University of North Carolina) and his student Elyse Nieves for bringing this article to my attention.