Virginia Joan Bennett

Virginia Joan Bennett Mom, Jack loves his mom and she loves him they have a great relationship when shes sober…. Jack is very protective of his mother and feels its his duty to take care of her. Joan Kennedy, children reach agreement Medical, financial team, rehab cited By John Ellement and Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff | June 13, 2005 Joan Bennett Kennedy is now being guided by a team of financial and medical professionals and entering a period of rehabilitation under the terms of an agreement her children hope will keep her safe and improve her spirit and physical well-being, a Kennedy family friend said yesterday. She's now in a very comprehensive program," said the family friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The arrangement is the result of a closed-door agreement reached Friday between attorneys for Joan Kennedy, the former wife of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and her three adult children, who have been fighting with their mother in probate court since last summer over what they saw as a critical need for direct control over her medical and financial decisions. Last summer, Probate and Family Court Judge Robert E. Terry named Edward M. Kennedy Jr. as his mother's temporary guardian, a move Joan Kennedy initially supported but then decided to challenge. A trial on the issue was to open today in Barnstable Probate and Family Court. But the agreement between Joan Kennedy and her three children -- Edward, Kara Kennedy Allen, and US Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island -- takes the issue out of the public eye and back into the private arena. According to the family friend, who is familiar with the details in the agreement, two financial professionals will watch Joan Kennedy's estimated $9.5 million in assets while a guardian ad litem will monitor her and guide medical decisions made for, and by, her. All three of the professionals must make periodic reports to the probate court, the family friend said. The agreement can be altered to increase the control over Joan Kennedy if she abuses alcohol or otherwise endangers herself. Court records show that she needed a guardian because of an unspecified mental illness, and the family friend said that concern was in addition to her chronic alcoholism. Sean Richardson, chief of staff for Patrick Kennedy, said yesterday that the Kennedy children had been working to make sure their mother gets the treatment she needs for her alcoholism, but he did not elaborate. They did reach an agreement," Richardson said. Joan Kennedy's investment adviser, Webster E. Janssen of Connecticut, said in a telephone interview yesterday that he was notified by an attorney for her about the settlement on Friday. Janssen was expected to be among the witnesses testifying during the trial, and said his view is that Kennedy is able to handle her affairs. He said he has dealt with Kennedy on financial matters since 2002 and never saw any signs of a mental illness or instability to support the children's claims. Janssen said he has met or spoken with her multiple times in the last six months. She's always been lucid and sober."Continued... Page 2 of 2 -- • Speaking of the three Kennedy children, he added: I think they are mean-spirited and vindictive. And they should get on with their lives and stop badgering poor Joan. . . . She's sort of living under house arrest most of the time." Augustus F. Wagner Jr., lead attorney for the children, dismissed Janssen's comments. The kids had nothing to gain by going forward other than the protection of their mother," he said. They had nothing to gain by stepping up. Zero. I admire them. That's about as good an act of love that I've seen." Janssen said he spoke with Joan Kennedy last week. She seemed OK," he said, adding that he tried to reach her over the weekend but had not gotten a return phone call by last evening. Kennedy, who has struggled with an addiction to alcohol for years, has been arrested several times for operating under the influence and has gone through rehabilitation repeatedly. In March, she was hospitalized for a concussion and shoulder injury after falling on a Back Bay sidewalk. The family friend said there have been other similar incidents that have not received public notice but cause the children to fear for their mother's safety. Janssen's involvement with Joan Kennedy's financial affairs infuriated her children, especially after Joan Kennedy signed over control of the family home in Barnstable and her condominium on Beacon Street in Boston to Janssen last October when Edward Kennedy Jr. had control over his mother's financial and medical interests. Janssen put both properties on the market, but her children obtained a court order blocking any sale. To the Kennedy children, Janssen was ignoring the court orders naming Edward Kennedy Jr. as temporary guardian. The agreement reached Friday terminates Janssen's role and hands over control of the properties and Joan Kennedy's financial assets to the two independent advisers, the family friend said. Janssen said that every step he took was done after consulting with lawyers, including Joan Kennedy's lead attorney, Hanson S. Reynolds. He said he has not been told if the Kennedy children will seek regulatory sanctions against him through the Securities and Exchange Commission or the National Association of Securities Dealers. He said he has not faced a complaint in 45 years in business. It's not like I've run off to Brazil with the money or squandered it in any way," he said. I never got paid a dime." © Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.