Vanessa Bryant has filed to make sure that her youngest daughter with the late Kobe Bryant is protected under his trust.
According to TMZ, in 2003 Kobe created a trust for Vanessa and their kids. The trust was amended multiple times, most recently in 2017. Every time the couple had a child, they added the child to the trust.
Their youngest daughter Capri was born eight months ago and she wasn’t added to Kobe’s trust before his untimely death.
Vanessa is now asking a judge to amend her late husband’s trust and add Capri’s name so that she will be taken care of financially. According to the trust agreement, “Vanessa, Natalia and Bianka can draw from the principal and income in the trust during Vanessa’s lifetime, and then her kids get the remainder upon her death.”
Vanessa is currently in the midst of a lawsuit against Island Express, the company that owns the helicopter that Kobe, their 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in.
Vanessa’s lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Feb. 24, the same day the memorial was held for her husband and daughter at the Staples Center.
The suit alleges that the pilot Ara Zobayan, who also died in the crash, failed to “properly monitor and assess the weather prior to takeoff, failed to abort the flight when he knew of the cloudy conditions and failed to properly and safely operate the helicopter resulting in a crash.”
“Defendant Island Express Helicopters’ breach of its duty and negligence caused the injuries and damages complained of herein and Plaintiffs’ deceased, Kobe Bryant, was killed as a direct result of the negligent conduct of Zobayan for which Defendant Island Express Helicopters is vicariously liable in all respects,” the suit continued.
Vanessa’s lawyers are seeking unspecified damages from Island Express. They are also asking for damages from “pre-impact” terror. They believe Kobe and Gianna suffered emotional trauma as the pilot tried to get out of the clouds.
The exact cause of the crash is still under investigation.