Daughter Says 'Splinter' Can Be Frozen
Ted Williams' eldest daughter dropped her challenge Friday to her half siblings' decision to have their father's body permanently frozen.
Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell dropped her objections after a judge agreed that a $645,000 trust will be distributed equally among Ferrell and her half brother and sister, John Henry Williams and Claudia Williams. The trust had been written so that no money would have been distributed until 10 years after the slugger's death last July 5.
"She will take no further legal action regarding the disposition of her father's body," said Bob Goldman, an attorney for John Henry and Claudia Williams.
Ferrell sued to have the court decide whether her father's ashes should be scattered in the ocean off Florida, as he declared in his 1996 will.
John Henry and Claudia Williams have maintained they signed a handwritten pact with their father in November 2000 agreeing that their bodies would be frozen.
John Henry had his father's body moved to a Alcor Life Extension Foundation facility in Arizona shortly after his death at age 83. Cryogenic supporters say bodies might one day be thawed and brought back to life. Most experts say that is highly unlikely.
The siblings had been in continuous negotiations during the past several months, and hearings on the issue were twice postponed.
Under the original terms of the trust, written in 1986, the Williams children could get up to a third of their share of the trust after turning age 40, no more than half of their share after turning age 45 and the full amount after reaching age 50.
Both John Henry and Claudia Williams are in their 30s, while Ferrell is in her 50s.
The trust made arrangements to provide for Louise Kaufman, Ted Williams' longtime companion, should he die before she did. Kaufman died in 1993. It also arranged payments to be made to Williams' children, with approval from trustees, for their "reasonable comfort, support, benefit and education."
The 1986 trust is only a portion of Williams' wealth. The value of his estate hasn't been made public.
"Our family extends its heartfelt appreciation to our father's many friends and fans for the expressions of sympathy they have shown since his passing," said the three siblings in a joint statement.