Some people are billionaires for a reason! They take risks! Florida polo mogul, John Goodman is one of them. How can you hate a story when a guy outsmarts the legal system?
You see, John Goodman,48, is about to go on trial for DUI manslaughter, but in a brilliant move, he recently adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend, a move that could shield much of his fortune from a wrongful-death lawsuit. Absolute genius! Goodman's adoption of Heather Hutchins, his girlfriend since 2009, is "surreal" and moves the case into "a legal Twilight Zone".
Goodman, the founder of the International Polo Club and heir to a Texas air-conditioning fortune, was driving his $200,000 Bentley back in February 2010, when he ran a stop sign in Wellington, Florida, and slammed into a Hyundai owned by a Scott Patrick Wilson. Wilson, 23, drowned when his car flipped over into a canal, and after being tested for alcohol, Goodman's blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit. Goodman goes to trial for DUI manslaughter and other charges on March 6 and could face up to 30 years behind bars if he's convicted.
Goodman also faces a civil trial, starting three weeks later, in a wrongful-death suit brought by William and Lili Wilson, the parents of Scott Patrick Wilson. The judge has already ruled that a trust fund Goodman had set up for his two children was off-limits if a jury awards money to The Wilson family. Instead, Goodman would stand to lose much of his personal assets like his airplane, his yacht, and his stable of polo horses. His family business was sold seven years ago for more than $1 billion.
The Wilsons discovered last week that Goodman had pulled a fast one by finalizing a legal adoption of Hutchins last October, entitling her to one-third of the trust fund. The trust fund is believed to be worth at least $200 million. A Florida adoption attorney called Goodman's move "both awful and brilliant!" But the Wilson's are calling it a 'game changer' and asked the judge to reconsider the trust to be a part of Goodman's assets and subject to damages awarded by a jury.
According to Goodman's attorney, the adoption had nothing to do with the lawsuit, and that it was done for estate-planning purposes and to ensure protection of both his and her minor children and stability of the family investments. Yeah, right! Adult adoptions are usually done for the purposes of estate planning, but adopting a girlfriend appears to be something new! The judge called the adoption 'unprecedented', but he never said it was illegal!
It sounds to me, this is just another case of a spoiled rich boy trying to get away with murder! Literally! He might have fooled the system, but is it kind of gross to have adopted your girlfriend? Does she have to call him 'daddy' now? Better yet, when they're having sex, is it considered incest now since he would be having sex with his daughter? Even better than that, during sex, if he asks "Who's your daddy?" She can actually respond with "You are!" and really mean it! What does her real father think of all this? Why couldn't Goodman just marry her? The whole adopting the girlfriend thing is just too creepy! What do you think?
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