Much of the Fort Worth media covered the tragic story of a young man’s death in a Florida car accident two years ago. What made the story notable was that the driver of the other car was not only drunk, but the multimillionaire founder of the International Polo Club Palm Beach.
The tycoon’s trial made headlines, as did his conviction and sentencing. What didn’t make headlines was the long and contentious divorce the parents of the 23-year-old man killed in the accident were going through at the time. In fact, their disputes continue to this day and now include a legal clash over what to do with their son’s ashes.
That disagreement over the disposition of his remains is what has dragged them back into the news.
Last autumn, the former husband petitioned the court to allow him to take a “relatively equal” part of his cremated son’s ashes for burial in a family plot in Georgia. His former wife, and mother of the 23-year-old, rejected the request as “insensitive.”
A Palm Beach County judge ruled last Friday that there would be no splitting up of the remains.
He told the two parties that they must sit down, “try harder” and come to an agreement on what should be done with their son’s ashes.
He noted that the remains aren’t “like a bank account” from which half can be withdrawn and deposited with one of the parents.
He also told the pair that he would not listen to arguments about which of them loved their son the most. He ruled that he assumes both love him, but that they need to work out their differences on what to do with what is left of his body.
The pair also reportedly has disputes over the disposition of home videos and a baseball card collection to settle as well.
Anyone facing a potentially acrimonious split should discuss in detail their legal options with an experienced family law attorney.
