New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog
Known and beloved as “Mr. Cub,” Ernie Banks began his career in baseball earning only seven dollars per day in the Negro Leagues, before coming to the Chicago Cubs and becoming one of the team’s all-time favorite players. After baseball, Ernie Banks continued a career in business and philanthropy, Mr. Banks earned the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2013. He passed away on January 23, 2015 from a heart condition, but the death certificate also listed dementia as a “significant condition contributing” to his death. This statement has become incredibly important because his caretaker is now claiming to be his sole heir.
Ernie Banks’ Estate Plan
Three months before he passed away, Mr. Banks signed a new will and estate planning documents that included a power of attorney, healthcare directive, will, and trust. The new estate plan gave control of his entire estate to his caretaker and talent agent, Regina Rice. The will and trust also excluded his family members and named her as the sole beneficiary. In fact, the new documents expressly stated that nothing should go to his estranged wife or three children from a prior marriage. The new plan gives Ms. Rice all assets from Mr. Banks’ estate, and it also allows her to profit off of his name, image, and likeness.
Banks’ Family Contesting Estate
The Banks children have already stated that they plan to contest the new estate plan. They claim that Ms. Rice used Mr. Banks’ dementia as a way to manipulate him into signing the new will. They also claim that in the months leading up to his death, Ms. Rice refused to let them speak to their father over the phone. Ms. Rice has refuted the allegations and has stated that “the record and those closest to Ernie will dispel any iota of concern regarding my relationship with Ernie and his trust in me to [carry] out his wishes.”
Illinois Undue Influence Law
A new law was passed on January 1, 2015 in Illinois that makes it easier for families to challenge wills that favor a caregiver. However, it does not apply in this case because Mr. Banks signed his new documents a couple of months before the new law went into effect. That being said, the burden of proof to prove that there was no undue influence with Mr. Banks will lie with Ms. Rice.
The concept of undue influence means that a person was of sound mind and free from pressure or manipulation of another person when the estate planning documents were signed. The fact that Mr. Banks had dementia and completed the changes to his estate only three months before he died is questionable. And because Ms. Rice was in a position of trust over Mr. Banks at the time of the changes, as caregiver and talent agent, the law will automatically assume that she did use some level of undue influence when the documents were signed.