Thompson's Widow Comments on End of Estate Dispute

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The widow of the late actor and politician Fred Thompson says she is glad the late U.S. Senator's two eldest sons by a prior marriage have agreed to drop their claims that improper and last minute changes were made in his estate.
Filings in Davidson Probate Court show Fred Thompson Jr. and Dan Thompson agreed to the dismissal of their claims after Jeri Thompson provided documents showing there were no last minute changes.
"Their claims do not and never did have any legal or factual merit," Jeri Thompson's lawyer William Ramsey said in a prepared statement.
"They misread (intentionally or otherwise) descriptions in legal bills that never should have been filed with the court," Ramsey said, adding "Like any other person who has been falsely accused, Mrs. Thompson is relieved that the justice system prevailed to defend her honor and word."
The dispute arose when another Nashville, Tenn. law firm, Waller Lansden, Dortch and Davis filed a claim against the Thompson estate. The claim included detailed information on an effort to put together a new will including the two children born after the one time presidential candidate married Jeri.
Ramsey said Jeri Thompson signed an affidavit stating that only one inconsequential change was made in the week's before Fred Thompson's death on Nov. 1, 2016. Nonetheless the two elder sons pressed their claim and Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy issued an order for Jeri Thompson to provide records regarding her late husband's assets and any changes made in the period leading up to his death.
The only change made was an inconsequential one involving the secondary beneficiary on a life insurance policy. Jeri Thompson was the primary beneficiary and had already redeemed the policy by the time the dispute arose, according to court records.
"Mrs. Thompsom regrets deeply the embarrassment done to her late husband's reputation, and the trauma and distress caused by these unfounded allegations," Ramsey concluded.
 Jeri Thompson has disputed the Waller Lansden claim for $14,450, but the matter has not yet been resolved. A hearing on the dispute was postponed at her request.
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Fight Over Thompson Estate Settled

By Walter F. Roche Jr,

A family feud over the estate of the late actor/politician Fred Thompson has apparently been resolved and a complaint filed by his two oldest sons has been dismissed.
Papers filed this week in Davidson Probate Court in Nashville, Tenn. show that the claim against Thompson's widow Jeri Thompson by Fred Thompson Jr and Daniel D. Thompson was dismissed with the agreement of both parties.
The two eldest Thompson's sons filed the claim charging that Jeri Thompson might have made changes in the late senator's estate at a time when he was no longer competent to approve any such changes. The one time presidential candidate died Nov. 1, 2015.
Jeri Thompson responded by stating that the only change was an inconsequential one, involving a secondary beneficiary on a life insurance police that already had been redeemed by the primary beneficiary, Jeri Thompson.
Nonetheless, earlier this year Davidson Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy following a Jan. 23 hearing ordered Jeri Thompson to turn over to the two sons by a previous marriage a series of records including ownership records on a Florida property and the late senator's pension benefits from the Screen Actors Guild.
Jeri Thompson was ordered to provide the records, including any recent changes in ownership of his assets, by a Feb. 22 deadline.
The sons' claims followed disclosure that Jeri Thompson, the administrator of her husband's estate, was disputing a claim against the estate filed by a Nashville law firm for work done on Thompson's estate planning in the months before his death.
The billing statements from Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis showed that there was a last minute effort to marshall Thompson's assets, apparently in a scramble to draw up a new will.
The records indicate a new will was never drawn up and the will finally filed was over a decade old and omitted Thompson's two children born after his marriage to Jeri.
The dispute over the Waller firm's $14,450 bill has apparently not been resolved. A scheduled hearing on the issue was canceled at Jeri Thompson's request.

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Polk Fleeing Nashville

The James K. Polk Memorial Association is petitioning the Tennessee Historical Commission for permission to move the body of the 11th president of the United States from Nashville to the family home in Columbia.
Contending the move was initiated by "a grassroots campaign," the nonprofit says the proposed move came with recommendations from the Polk family.
Under the proposal Polk's tomb his body and his wife's would be moved to 301 West 7th St. in Columbia, the only surviving residence of the late president.
Tours of the home are being offered at half price through President's Day.
Polk's tomb is currently located on the state Capitol grounds in Nashville.
The association said in a statement announcing the proposal that it was initiated in response to a grassroots campaign and recommendations from Polk family members,
In a legal notice announcing the effort, the association said the move would increase traffic to the grave site and "create new opportunities to educate the public not only on President Polk himself but also on national expansion and other historically significant achievements of his presidency."
The Columbia residence was built by Polk's grandfather Samuel in 1816.

Fred Thompson's Widow Ordered to Hand Over Estate Records

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The widow of the late U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson has been ordered to turn over records showing any asset transfers or changes in beneficiaries in the months preceding his death in late 2015.
In a four-page order issued this week, Davidson Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy ordered Jeri Thompson to provide the records to the late actor's two oldest children, Fred D Thompson and Daniel Thompson by Feb. 22.
Thompson's two older sons have charged that Jeri Thompson was attempting to change her husband's estate plan at a time when he was no longer legally competent to approve any changes.
The will actually filed in Thompson's estate was dated over a decade before his Nov. 1, 2015 death and did not mention the two children born after his marriage to Jeri.
Kennedy's order followed a Jan. 23 hearing on the issue.
The order requires Jeri Thompson to provide copies of deeds prepared by ta Nashville law firm in October of 2015 regarding property in Florida.
The order also applies to any change in beneficiaries on life insurance policies between July 2015 and October 2015.
The same information must be turned over regarding Thompson's pension from the Screen Actor Guild.
Under the order information on all accounts and assets must also be provided, though the order specifically excludes account numbers.
The dispute arose after a Nashville law firm, Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis submitted a claim against Thompson's estate for $14,450. The filing included detailed information on efforts to the amend the retired actor's estate plans.
The two sons, children of Thompson's first marriage, then filed their claims.
Jeri Thompson responded by stating that the only change was in the contingent beneficiary on a life insurance policy. And, she said, that change proved inconsequential because she was the primary beneficiary and had already collected on the policy.
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Subpoena Fought in Fred Thompson Estate

By Walter F. Roche  Jr.

A prominent Nashville, Tenn. law firm is fighting a subpoena seeking all of its estate records for the late U.S. Senator and television actor Fred Thompson.
In a filing late last week in Davidson Probate Court Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis charged that the subpoena issued in behalf of Thompsons two oldest sons was not properly served and seeks records protected by a lawyer client privilege.
The filing is just the latest legal skirmish over Thompson's estate.
The two sons, Fred D. Thompson 2nd and Daniel L. Thompson, have charged that Thompson's wife, Jeri K. Thompson, may have made last minute changes even after Thompson himself, was no longer legally competent to authorize them.
The Waller firm was deeply involved in those efforts and has a $14,550 discounted claim for legal work done just before Fred Thompson's Nov. 1, 2015 death. Jeri Thompson, the executor of her late husband's estate has disputed the bill.
In the filing on Friday Waller attorney Ames Davis charged that the four-page subpoena seeks documents that already have been turned over to the firm now representing the estate.
In addition the documents are either protected by attorney-client privilege or are protected as attorney work product.
"Waller would be subjected to undue burden and expense if it were required to locate all documents potentially responsive to the subpoena," the Waller filing states.
Jeri Thompson already has denied making any last minute changes to the estate except for adding a secondary beneficiary to two life insurance policies. Those changes, however, proved to be a nullity since Jeri Thompson, the primary beneficiary already cashed in the policies in question, according to court filings.
Thompson, a one time presidential candidate, and Jeri Thompson had two children, Samuel and Hayden, but neither was mentioned in the more than decade old will filed in the estate.
 The four page subpoena served on the Waller firm seeks all of Thompson's estate planning documents, records relating to a Florida property owned by the senator, any benefits Thompson was entitled to from the Screen Actors Guild and any interest he had in American Advisors Group.
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Hearing Set in Fred Thompson Estate Dispute

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A Sept. 29 hearing date has been set to consider a motion by the widow of television star and politician Fred Thompson to throw out claims of improper death bed estate changes filed by his two oldest sons by a previous marriage.
Jeri Thompson has denied charges by  Fred Thompson 2nd and Daniel Thompson that she made last minute changes to his estate planning documents to their detriment at a time when the one time presidential candidate was not competent to authorize any changes.
The two sons, meanwhile, have served a subpoena on the law firm that had been conferring with Jeri Thompson and the late U.S. senator in the days before his Nov. 1 death. The subpoena served on the Waller Landsen Dortch and Davis law firm seeks copies of all of Thompson's estate planning documents. It also seeks copies of a deed to a Florida property owned by Thompson.
The Florida property was specifically mentioned in billing records the Waller law firm submitted to justify a $14,550 claim against the estate. Jeri Thompson has disputed that claim.
Jeri Thompson has labeled the sons' charges "gross misrepresentations" and stated that the only changes made were to add a contingent beneficiary to two life insurance policies. The changes had no effect on the $50,000 apiece allotted to Thompson's two oldest sons under the decade old will that was finally filed, according to her court filing.
Her response also noted that the designation of contingency beneficiaries became moot when she, the primary beneficiary, redeemed the two policies.
Jeri Thompson, utilizing a power of attorney, added her son with Thompson, Samuel, as a contingent beneficiary on Oct. 26. Prior to that their daughter Hayden was the 100 percent contingent beneficiary, according to her motion for summary judgment.
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Thompson's Widow Wants Sons' Suit Tossed

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The widow of the late U.S. Senator Fred Thompson is asking a judge to throw out a suit filed by the one time presidential candidate's two oldest sons who had charged her with making last minute changes in his estate documents.
In a motion filed Friday in Davidson Probate Court in Nashville, Tenn. lawyers for Jeri Thompson, who is also the executor of her husband's estate, disclosed that she did change the contingent beneficiaries on two life insurance policies but that action had no effect on the interests of Thompson's sons, Fred D. Thompson 2nd and Daniel Thompson.
Denying charges of a last minute conspiracy to change the late actor's estate, Ms. Thompson said the allegations of the two older sons were "gross misrepresentations of the facts based on speculation and incomplete information."
 She said she made the beneficiary changes on Oct. 26, 2015 under a more than decade old power of attorney.
"Plaintiffs cannot show that they suffered any harm or loss that was caused by any actions of the executor," the motion for summary judgment states.
The filing is the latest development in legal battles that surfaced following the death of the late actor.
Jeri Thompson, according to the court filing, added their son Samuel as a 50 percent contingent beneficiary on two life insurance policies. Prior to the change the 100 percent contingent beneficiary was Hayden Thompson, a daughter of Jeri Thompson and the deceased Law and Order prosecutor.
Jeri Thompson was and remained the sole primary beneficiary under both policies.
"The change never had any effect whatsoever because the executor, the primary beneficiary, received the proceeds of the policies, as was Senator Thompson's intent," a 14-page court memorandum states.
According to the suit the changes reduced Hayden's interest as a contingent beneficiary to 50 percent.
Thompson's two older sons of a previous marriage had charged that Jeri Thompson had made changes to the estate using undue influence and at a time when he was not competent to make any changes. They asked the court to nullify any such last minute changes.
The charges were based on billing records from the law firm of Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis, which has filed a claim against the estate for $14,550 for estate work done just before the senator's death.
According to Jeri Thompson's motion, the late senator was considering changing his estate plans, but Waller attorney Charles Trost concluded, following an Oct. 19, 2015 meeting, that he was not competent to make any such changes.
"Senator Thompson's condition worsened before the documents could be completed and before Sen. Thompson could review and sign them," the filing states.
Court records show the will filed in Thompson's estate was prepared in 2003 and did not include either Hayden or Samuel. The two older sons were beneficiaries.
The Waller billing records show there was a last minute flurry of activity regarding Thompson's will and estate plans. Jeri Thompson has filed objections to the billing but a hearing on the bill dispute has been postponed indefinitely, records show.

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