Comedian Louie Anderson’s family claims he was the victim of “elder abuse” in his final days, resulting in a drastic change in the distribution of his fortune.
According to legal documents, obtained by The Blast, Lisa Anderson – Louie’s sister – filed a petition with the court asking for a judge to invalidate a late change in the comedian’s trust, which changes the payout to family members and friends.
In the shocking filing, Lisa accuses several associates of Anderson of conspiring to change the legal documents which originally paid out a higher percentage of money and royalties from his work to his siblings. It should be noted, that Louie had no children during his lifetime.
The two “respondents” in this case are Ahmos Hassan (labeled as his agent) and Abraham Geisness (labeled as his manager). Also, Lisa says at one point in life, Abraham was Louies “lover.”
Louie Anderson Allegedly Changes Financial Payout To Family In Final Days
During the final years of his life, Lisa points out that Louie suffered from obesity resulting in a heart attack and bypass surgery. In 2013, he was diagnosed with lymphoma and suffered from prostate cancer in 2020. During that period, Louie’s sister claims the comedian wanted to have a family reunion in Florida after one of his shows. Following the event, Lisa says Anderson said he wanted to fly to California because he thought Ahmos was “stealing from him.”
Fast forward a few months, and the comedian’s health worsened to the point he could not walk or take care of himself. She says many of his family members volunteered to live with him to him get through the days. In January 2022, it was obvious the comedian might not make it and his sister said she got an odd call from a friend claiming Louie said, “I don’t want Lisa to come out here and I’ll call her when I want her to come out.”
She added, “Louie spoke with long hesitations between his words and it appeared like he was being coached to say the words he was uttering. This was strange because earlier, Louie had wanted Lisa to come out and lie next to him on a new bed he wanted to purchase. Throughout his life, Louie and (I) had a special, loving bond and called each other every day, sometimes twice a day.”
Comedian Louie Anderson’s Family Claims Trust Was Changed While He Was Incoherent
In his final days, Lisa claims Louie was hospitalized and not able to speak. Describing how his “eyes were not closed, but he stared blankly ahead.” Adding, he did not recognize his two sisters.
On January 12, 2022 — four days before his death — Louie executed a “first amendment” to his trust. His sister claims the comedian was “forced” into the change on his “deathbed.” Louie died on January 16, 2022.
According to the legal documents, the update made substantial changes that “reduced the gifts” the comedian made to his siblings. Lisa described the specific allegations, claiming a group of people (including Abraham and Ahmos) entered his hospital room after asking her to leave. She claims she could hear “voices yelling and shouting at Louie telling him to sign some documents,” including “this is it! You must sign NOW.”
The update included a signature from Louie, which his sister says was a “scribble” the group forced him to sign because he was “unable to hold a pen in his hand and write at the time.”
See The ‘Scribble’ Signature Of Dying Comedian
The filing included an accounting of his finances, and says he has a residual income of approximately 120,000 a year minus commissions.
It should be noted, that the original trust allegedly made Abraham his “friend and lover” the trustee, and he gifted his property to Christine E. Geisness (Abrahams’s ex-wife.) All other assets were gifted to a “siblings trust” including a “substantial number of intellectual property assets” related to his performances as an actor, comedian, and writer. The updated version removed the siblings as “sole beneficiaries” and added Ahmos, and Abraham giving them each 30%.
In the end, Anderson’s sister says he was forced to make this change to his final wishes during a period where his “mental and physical condition had so substantially diminished that he was unable to resist their undue influence.” Also, she claims his mobile phone was taken away in his final days to attempt to “isolate him from his family.”
Lisa Anderson is asking the court to invalidate the amendment and hold the two men “liable for financial elder abuse” of the comedian.
