Posted on 06/17/2024 5:12:30 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Tony Bennett‘s two daughters, Johanna and Antonia Bennett, are suing one of their brothers. The two sisters filed a lawsuit in New York City on June 12 against D’Andrea “Danny” Bennett for his handling of the family trust.
According to Johanna and Antonia’s lawsuit, Danny mishandled the trust, failing to account for transactions and assets. Allegedly, Bennett’s live performances brought in $100 million to the family, but they have been told the estate is only worth $7 million, per a report from Music News.
In addition to Danny, the sisters named their other brother Daegal “Dae” Bennett in the suit, as well as Bennett’s widow, Susan Crow. Johanna, Antonia, Dae, and Crow are all listed as beneficiaries of Bennett’s trust. However, the sisters claim Danny has been causing trouble with the estate.
Tony Bennett’s Daughters Suing Brother Danny, Name Other Brother and Step-Mother in Lawsuit
The lawsuit states that Danny “persistently failed and refused to provide information sufficient for [them] to fully identify and understand the property and assets in which they have rights and interests as beneficiaries.” In their words, Danny and his legal team have only provided “piecemeal information” when pressed for the most basic details of the estate and trust.
“The information provided raises more questions than answers and fails to provide anything close to an accounting of Tony’s assets and financial affairs,” the lawsuit continues. The sisters are demanding a full account of Bennett’s assets and financial activity of the trust. They are also seeking a court order for all relevant documentation from Danny.
The lawsuit further claims that Danny, who served as his father’s manager and trustee of the family trust, received “personal benefits for himself and his company,” per a report from Rolling Stone. Apparently, Danny made transactions on behalf of his father, Benedetto Arts, LLC, and the Family Trust. There are also allegations that Danny’s company, RPM Music Productions, Inc., received a “substantial commission” from sales of Bennett’s memorabilia. The Family Trust stated that, upon Tony Bennett’s death, “tangible personal property is to be distributed in equal shares” to the four children. As the lawsuit states, there are more questions than answers when it comes to Tony Bennett’s estate.
Even when there is an editor offering advice, no one listens.
Sue me to the Moon.
Rags to Riches! And all of those long and lonely weeks in Branson Missou!
Darn italians could never figure out finances
Sounds like what my brother did to me after my parents died. He ended up with 90% of the trust and lied to me every step of the way. We were estranged for over 25 yrs until he died from Covid in January 2022. Guess I got the last laugh after all.
might be difficult to sue if the brother is the primary trustee and has control over all of the paperwork
Sounds like my Sister’s husband (ring leader) sister and half brother who sued me the Trustee, the Trust and my Mother who is very much alive and in good health who demanded their inheritance before my Mother had even passed away..We won but cost both of us to a pretty penny tp defend ourselves in Court not to mention fighting a crooked Judge who just recently got disbarred. Kids suing other kids happens a lot.
The sisters got normal names, so Daegal and D’Andrea probably deserve more for being saddled with those.
There’s a lot to be said for being Executrix of a parent’s Will when there is zero money. Nothing for anyone to fight over.
>might be difficult to sue if the brother is the primary trustee and has control over all of the paperwork
I would imagine quite the opposite. The trustee has an absolute requirement to provide accountability to beneficiaries small and large and, I believe, both financial and criminal penalties for hiding, misleading, or misappropriating what ought to go to any given individual.
For instance, I’m aware of a trust which gave relatively minor outlays to a few charities. Straightforward? Nope; it’d been written so that 2% or 1% (or 0.1%, doesn’t matter and I don’t remember) of the estate went to Doggie Care Ltd. or whatever.
So Doggie Care Ltd. suddenly needs to know the details of the estate down to the penny in order to be sure they’ve gotten their minute percentage, and the executor is on the hook to get it to them with full and complete accuracy.
(Nota bene for the living: make things quite clear. If you want Fireflies Incorporated to get $500, put that.)
You’re sick.
I left my money....in San Francisco....high on a hill....
I am a Trustee and the sibling heirs have abused me through the entire process. There is another side and adhering to fiduciary responsibilities is what is required. Court ordered trust with pour over will because my Dad died intestate leaving our step-mom who had dementia behind. Technically they and I were not heirs on her passing…her Mother was! I became my stepmom’s conservator and her Mother wrote an affidavit to the court that my Dad’s kids should inherit after my Stepmom’s passing. She knew I would lovingly care for her…and I did that for 8 years.
Since this Trust is under court supervision it has been very difficult trying to wrap it up…between Covid delays to finalize the conservatorship so assets can be distributed, real estate prep for sale and IRS making claims to lien for taxes that they were paid but have not applied to the tax year…. I am hopeful this will be resolved so I can close this out this month.
This entire process from the conservatorship through the Trust has taken a severe toll on my life… Other than my compassion to be sure my stepmom was properly cared for… I would not advise anyone to accept this level of responsibility.
My father was smart. He divided a good portion of his estate to each of us prior to his death. When he passed, my eldest brother and youngest sister worked his estate together.
They provided a detailed accounting to the 5 of us and once everything was sold and all final expenses were paid, we each got a final check.
That money is still in my bank account.
When you have honorable, responsible people taking care of business, things go smoothly.
Where there’s a will, there’s a relative.
Nothing shows a person’s true colors like “free” money.
Only if he invested well and you inherited his estate.
It's a bitter pill. I was subjected to a similar fate with a relative of my relative who supposedly left me his estate. I had been too unwilling to seem grasping to ask him for a copy of the will or the name of his lawyer. Whoops! Another relative had a key to the deceased's house because her son was doing repair work for him; and suddenly, no will could ever be found.
My father died in 1993 after which my mother started drinking heavily. My brother lived 5 minutes away while I was 2 hrs away. My mother was hospitalized in June 1995 and was on a ventilator by the time I got there so we couldn’t have a discussion about anything. She died July 17, 1995, and at the Rosary service my brother handed me a copy of the irrevocable trust. My brother said there was no will, he “looked everywhere for it,” which is why he had her make a trust. A yr later he admitted to the existence of a will which is when I learned of the terms via his attorney.
He also obtained guardianship of my younger brother who is mentally retarded and received approximately $1400/mo from the federal and state govt. I sent a letter to the judge outlining my issues with the guardianship so they kept him on a tight leash for a few yrs after that as far as reporting and home visits. I was only allowed to talk to my little brother on the phone if they listened in so eventually I stopped calling. I didn’t have the money to fight the guardianship or contest the trust, so my brother won at every turn.
The terms of the trust were weighed heavily in my older brother’s favor. Even though it was a small estate, the money would have come in really handy for our struggling family at the time. I received less than $20,000 vs the $100,000 I would have received under the terms of the will.
See my reply to another poster below. Greed is so pervasive.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.