Fight Over Fred 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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