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Judge Says Country Singer Campbell’s Kids Have the Right to Challenge his Will
Three of Glen Campbell’s children have been given the right to contest two wills left by the singer, that completely cut them out of his estate. A Nashville judge says they have legal standing.
In two wills, dated September 1, 2006 and January 7, 2001, Glen Campbell disinherited three of his children. Tennessee Probate Judge David Randy Kennedy has now said they may contest the singer’s capacity to agree to the wills.
The Tennessean reported it its recent article, “Glen Campbell’s children have right to contest wills that cut them off inheritance,” that Travis, Kelli and Wesley Campbell petitioned the court to certify that a will contest existed. The three were the only children of Campbell who were left out of both wills.
Anyone who may have a potential interest from the will, can challenge a will. The most successful challengers are usually spouses. The most successful grounds for a will contest are that the decedent lacked testamentary capacity or that the person was unduly influenced to draft the will to benefit a certain person.
Judge Kennedy noted in his decision that, in this case, the three Campbell children intended to contest their father’s capacity to agree to the wills and also that he was subject to undue influence. Campbell suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for a few years, before he died on August 7, 2017.
The 2006 will was filed by Kimberly Campbell, Glen’s widow, who was also named executor of his estate. She recently filed notice that she wouldn’t challenge the right of the three children to contest the will. Judge Kennedy said in his decision, that there was no opposition to the certification request.
The 2006 will names Kimberly and Glen’s five other children as beneficiaries. A fourth Campbell child, Debbie Campbell-Cloyd, has raised questions about the actions of a former publicist and manager for the singer, Stanley B. Schneider, who has been acting as a temporary administrator of the estate.
Campbell-Cloyd asked the probate judge to order the temporary administrator to provide a complete accounting of any payments made from the Campbell estate and of a bank account that had been controlled solely by Kimberly and Glen Campbell. Schneider had power of attorney over this account. The royalties, said Campbell-Cloyd, were to have been deposited into an estate account, instead of this previously unknown bank account.
Reference: The Tennessean (July 25, 2018) “Glen Campbell’s children have right to contest wills that cut them off inheritance”