Man Gets Protective Order for Self and Puggle During Family Estate Dispute re Autographed Baseballs
During his lifetime, Chicago White Sox investor Larry Pogofsky was the proud owner of a collection of autographed baseballs worth as much as $25,000 each.
His ambition was to collect one signed by every Hall of Famer, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Now, after his death at age 64, the collection is at the center of a complicated family estate dispute, the newspaper recounts:
Son Lyle “Brad” Pogofsky, 34, filed a civil suit against his brother, Benjamin Pogofsky, 31, contending that his sibling had been harassing him over the collection and seeking a judgment enforcing what he says was his father’s promise that the collection would go to his oldest son after he died.
Meanwhile, Brad Pogofsky was arrested and charged by Highland Park police with felony residential burglary and theft for allegedly taking some of the baseballs from his mother’s home. His lawyer says he is innocent. His mother, to whom the entire estate reportedly was left, says her husband left instructions that the collection was to go to Benjamin Pogofsky.
Benjamin Pogofsky denies that he harassed his brother and has obtained a Cook County Circuit Court protective order for himself and his puggle, Jolie, against his older sibling.
“It’s always the emotional items that get fought over,” comments attorney Mitch Pawlan, who says he has used a deck of cards to help settle such property contests. “It’s never pretty. One of the things you have to work on is trying to keep the family together. That’s where the counseling comes in.”
