Ernie Banks' Last Will Cut Out Family Members, Gives Entire Estate To Care-Giver Half His Age

Three months before he died at the age of 83, baseball legend Ernie Banks signed a will his much younger care-giver had prepared for him that disinherited his family and left everything to her. At the same time he signed that will, he also signed a power of attorney and health care directive that gave total control of his affairs to his live-in care-giver, Regina Rice.

Jerry and Joey Banks, his twin sons, didn't learn about the change in his will until after Banks' recent funeral. "My father was ill at the time she had him sign a will and I believe coerced him to give all of his assets to her," Jerry Banks, the 55-year-old son of Ernie Banks, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I find it quite interesting that she did not tell anyone that she had an attorney write up a new will," he said.

The dispute began when family members learned Rice intended to cremate Banks' remains. Banks' estranged wife went to court to block her from having his body cremated. The Banks became further enraged when Rice posted a picture on her Facebook page, which describes her as a "Singer-Entertainer", at a spa where she was being treated to champagne a week after his funeral. The Banks brothers live in Los Angeles and complain that Rice made it difficult for them to speak to their father during his final months. The Banks' family members plan to contest their father's last will.