Potato Chip Heiress Wins Back Control of Her Fortune
Joann Bashinsky, 88, heiress to the Golden Flake potato chip empire, is for now back in control of her fortune after a ruling Thursday by the Alabama Supreme Court. The court voided a 2019 probate order granting an emergency conservator that came after two employees claimed that 88-year-old Joann Bashinsky has dementia and is mentally unfit to handle her vast estate. Justices said Bashinsky’s basic due-process rights were egregiously violated when the probate court made the emergency decision without giving her time to obtain counsel after her lawyers were disqualified. The permanent conservatorship petition remains pending before the court. Joann…
