Vanessa Bryant files to add infant daughter to Kobe’s trust

Vanessa Bryant has filed to remedy a problem with her late husband Kobe’s trust: it wasn’t changed to include Kobe’s youngest daughter Capri Bryant, according to TMZ.

Bryant has reportedly asked a judge to amend the trust set up by Kobe to support her and their daughters to include 9-month-old Capri, who was born after the most recent trust was signed.

Kobe’s trust was apparently created in 2003 to support Vanessa and their children, and had amended it several times. The most recent came in 2017, and Capri was born in June 2019. Bryant, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, died in a helicopter crash back in January.

Vanessa reportedly argued to the judge that it was clearly Kobe’s intent to provide for his children with the trust, and that he said so in one of the documents.

The trust agreement is reportedly set up to allow Vanessa and her daughters to draw from the principal and income during Vanessa’s lifetime, with the remainder going to the children upon Vanessa’s death.

The filing is the latest legal action Vanessa has taken following Kobe’s death. She has also filed a lawsuit against the helicopter company that owned the vehicle in which her husband and daughter died and has demanded the deletion of reported graphic photos taken and distributed by deputiesthrough her lawyer.

Bill’s Lessons Learned:

Kobe Bryant had a trust. However even though you have a trust does not mean that the trusts will remain current without you being proactive in making sure that it is.

Kobe’s trust was prepared in 2003 and he amended several times over the years with his most recent change occurring in 2017. However, his daughter Capri was born in 2019 and was not referenced in the trust. Just recently his wife Vanessa petitioned the court for an order allowing that the trust be amended. Because the need for this amendment was occurring after Kobe’s death, Vanessa was unfortunately required to go through an expensive and time-consuming court proceeding to have the amendment made.

The Hayes Law Firm’s policy is to always send out letters to our clients minimally every three years, because we know that life always brings changes. The language set forth in your trust when you first created it may not reflect what is happening in your life now. 

Life is not static. There will be births and deaths, marriages and divorces, relationship changes, asset changes and changes in the law. It is always important that you have a system to stay on top of your estate plan, otherwise these necessary changes will get by you.

As previously mentioned, our law firm notifies clients minimally every three years, however if the client is aware that such changes are needed prior to that three-year notice, they are always free to call us without charge to talk about those changes.

If you don’t have a system for staying on top of such changes, get one. It’s important to you, it’s important to your family, and it’s important for the preservation of your estate assets.

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William Hayes

As an attorney in private practice in Los Angeles County, California William Hayes provides extensive estate and tax planning services to individuals and businesses in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank and surrounding communities. Attorney Hayes’ primary focus is to help clients avoid probate, protect their assets, and provide for the security of their loved ones with a well-crafted estate plan. He believes in giving each client the time needed to explain his or her needs and wishes and then dedicates his efforts toward making the client’s desires clear in their final estate plan.

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