Louisiana Appeals Court Upholds Benson Capacity Ruling

  A Louisiana appeals court has refused to overturn a trial court’s ruling that Tom Benson is mentally competent to continue running the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans. This is a setback to his daughter Renee who has sought to have the octogenarian billionaire removed from team control following his attempt to transfer shares in the teams away from a trust to which Renee and her children are beneficiaries. The appeals court affirmed the trial judge’s ruling following a long trial in which Benson personally met with the judge as well as testimony from several doctors and a nurse who had long served Benson. An attorney for Renee indicated an appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court might be in the making but made no final commitment. A case in Texas was recently settled between the estranged father and daughter which saw Renee replacing Tom as trustee of a trust that holds the bulk of the family assets including a number of car dealerships.

See Mike Triplett, Tom Benson found competent; keeps control of Saints, Pelicans, ESPN News, February 24, 2016.