Family Seeks to Seal $2.8 Million Bironas Estate Settlement

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The family of former Tennessee Titans kicker Rob Bironas is asking the court to keep secret the details of a $2.8 million settlement of a dispute over the distribution of his estate.
In a suit filed recently in Davidson Probate Court in Nashville, Tenn., Bironas' family is asking the court to approve  a distribution agreement for Bironas' assets but also to seal the records of the case because the filing includes sensitive personal information and also involves his son London, who is a minor.
Primary heirs of the estate are London and Rachel Bradshaw Bironas, Rob Bironas' widow. Rachel, the records show had earlier objected to a distribution plan for the estate assets.
Bironas died in a Sept. 20, 2014 single vehicle crash on Battery Lane, not far from his home.
Witnesses said his truck was observed traveling at a high rate of speed shortly before it left the road and struck a tree. Police later reported he was traveling 73 mph, double the speed limit at the location.
A subsequent autopsy concluded he was legally drunk with a blood alcohol level of 0.218 percent. The legal limit was 0.08.
He was 36 at the time of his death. He had been  released by the Titans earlier that year ending  a nine season career.
In the suit filed June 18, Bironas' family including the legal guardian of his son London, asked the court to approve the agreement which calls for the distribution of several million dollars worth of assets.
Though the family attorneys asked that the court filings be sealed because a minor was involved in the case, that sealing motion has yet to be acted on.
The petition states that sealing is justified in that it contains "sensitive and private information."
Paul Gontarek, one of the attorneys for Rachel Baronas, said he could not comment when asked to detail his client's objections to the distribution plan.
The lawyer for other Bironas family members could not be reached for comment.
The suit states that "a dispute has arisen among the petitioners regarding the distribution and administration of the assets."
 It asks that the proposed settlement and accompanying administrative plan be approved because it is "fair and reasonable."
A copy of the proposed distribution calls for London to receive $9,000 a month for 90 months, to be followed by $4,000 a month indefinitely.
The  disputed agreement also calls for Rachel to vacate the family residence by May 24 of this year.
Assets of the estate, according to the records, include $523,068 in a savings plan, $445,881 in an annuity plan, $1.6 million from a life insurance policy and $32,000 from another life policy.
Under the settlement Rachel and London will share a $195,443 retirement account, while the $523,068 savings plan and the $445,881 annuity plan will go to Rachel alone.
A $1.6 million insurance policy will be shared by London, Rachel and other members of the Bironas family.
All together the estate assets total an estimated $3 million.
Baronas' actual estate and a 13-page will was previously filed in a separate case in the same court.
Filed by his father Larry W. Bironas, the estate petition includes the will calling for all the assets to be distributed to the Gateway Promise Revocable Living Trust. The assets to be distributed under the settlement would come from that trust.
An amended claim against the estate for $294,909.51 has been  filed by First Tennessee Bank.
The will, according to the filings, was prepared on Feb. 25, 2009, which preceded his marriage to Rachel. Rachel and the former NFL star had signed a pre-nuptial agreement, the filing states.
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