*Here’s another messy situation that has arisen because the proper paperwork wasn’t completed before someone’s death.
We’re referring to the case of the Walt Disney Company suing the estate of the late and beloved ESPN sports broadcaster Stuart Scott. WDC is claiming that Scott’s ex-wife gripe over $162,000 that he left when died of cancer, is misguided, She should be taking action against his estate and not them.
Kimberley Scott, the ex-wife, recently filed a lawsuit against Disney and Fidelity saying her divorce from Stuart gave her the rights to his retirement fund from Disney.
But Disney is fighting back. In court documents obtained by The Blast, Disney states at the time of Stuart Scott’s death in 2015, he had listed his family trust as the beneficiary of his retirement accounts, not his ex-wife. Disney claims to have distributed his funds to his trust prior to receiving Kimberley’s legal docs.
Disney looks to be on the right side of the issue and is claiming they did nothing wrong when they paid out the money to the estate. However, it’s a little more complicated.
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Kimberley Scott filed for divorce from Stuart Scott in 2007. At that time, the ESPN host was ordered to pay his ex-wife $162,899.04 plus interest from his Disney Savings and Investment Plan 401k Account.
The problem is Scott died on January 4, 2015 without ever complying with the divorce decree to transfer the $162k. Kimberley attempted to collect on the money after his death but was told the money was already handed out to his estate.
Disney says they fear they could inadvertently allow the wrong party to withdraw the assets and wants the court to dismiss them from the case and allow the estate and ex-wife to battle it out alone, according to the legal documents they filed. Meanwhile, distribution of the funds has been frozen since the dispute arose.
The case is ongoing.
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