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Case file s508 · Music and sport · 2018
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2018
Tom Benson: Tom Benson 2009
Tom Benson. Cpl Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
15 March 2018
Place
Ochsner Medical Center, Jefferson, Louisiana · United States
Field
NFL and NBA owner (New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Pelicans)
Legal tradition
Louisiana civil law; Texas trust law · Common law · Civil law
Historical event
Saints' return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
Music and sportNowNorth AmericaUnited States

Tom Benson's daughter and grandchildren sued to have him declared incompetent after he gave the Saints to his third wife

In January 2015 Tom Benson, 87, said control of the Saints and Pelicans would pass to his third wife, Gayle, on his death. His daughter, Renee Benson, and her children, Rita and Ryan LeBlanc, had been the expected heirs. They sued, claiming he was incompetent and controlled by Gayle, and sought to have Renee put in charge. Benson denied it. After an eight-day closed trial, Orleans Civil District Judge Kern Reese ruled on 18 June 2015 that Benson was competent. Two of three psychiatric experts supported the ruling. A second fight turned on trusts holding team shares for the heirs. Benson had tried to swap the shares for other assets, including $500 million in promissory notes. A Texas judge removed him as trustee of the Shirley Benson Testamentary Trust, and Renee became its administrator. The trust case settled in 2017 after two weeks of mediation. Benson died in March 2018. Gayle Benson owns the Saints and the Pelicans in 2026.

What the law took from it

Shares placed in an irrevocable trust for heirs cannot be taken back by the founder, even to hand the business to a new spouse.

Sources
  1. espn.comPress
  2. si.comPress
  3. theadvocate.comPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Tom Benson's daughter and grandchildren sued to have him declared incompetent after he gave the Saints to his third wife,” story s508, https://www.celebrity.estate/tom-benson-2018, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Music and sportNowNorth AmericaCommon lawCivil lawUnited States