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Dwindling funds Thomas' estate doesn't have much money left
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Derrick Thomas spent his money freely, indulging himself and his friends, as well as giving to charities and investing in businesses. Yet not much money remains for his seven children. Although the Chiefs star earned $34 million during his 11-year football career, his estate is likely to total several hundred thousand dollars. To reach that level of solvency, estate representatives in coming weeks will sell the star's personal possessions, from the gold necklace he wore around his neck to the bed in which he slept. Thomas died a year ago this past week, the victim of a blood clot to the lung after an auto accident on icy Interstate 29 in Kansas City had left him paralyzed. He was 33. "If his estate isn't worth as much as people hoped, it's because he gave it to family, gave it to friends, gave it to charity," said Thomas' longtime girlfriend, Paula Avery. "He had the biggest heart you'd ever know. He gave and gave and gave." Overall, Thomas' child support and various mortgage payments came to about $20,000 a month. His credit card bills sometimes reached $60,000 a month. Add in cash withdrawals for his entourage or for walking-around money, and estate administrators estimate Thomas went through as much as $100,000 a month. Thomas donated money, often doing things through his Third and Long Foundation. Whenever his sisters, Nita Browner and Carmen Thomas, needed money for college, their brother always obliged. One year, he bankrolled Browner's $20,000 wedding and sent her on a honeymoon with $2,000. Thomas also had a good time. He bought $3,000 suits in bulk. He drank $1,000 cognac. He picked up $1,000 tabs at a strip club. He gave away a $12,000 diamond ring. "It was just amazing -- wine, women and song, like there was no tomorrow," said Ron Bronstein, one of Thomas' estate attorneys. What remains is an estate with assets of $1.8 million so far. The single largest item is his $250,000 house, while his roofing business had no net worth, because estate attorneys could find no buyers. Meanwhile, Thomas' leftover expenses, various child-support demands plus attorneys' fees, amount to roughly $1.5 million so far. The estate is far from settled. Attorneys expect to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars from new discoveries -- such as bank accounts Thomas had forgotten about -- and his personal belongings, which will be sold or auctioned in coming weeks. How much will be left for his children? The three oldest, at least, stand to benefit from life insurance policies that total more than $1 million and aren't part of the estate. But the rest? "I don't think it's going to be a huge amount," Bronstein said. Still, when Thomas' Dallas-based financial planner, Mark Griege, informed the estate that Thomas had withdrawn "approximately $6 million" from his stock investments during his final three years, estate attorneys didn't suspect fraud or theft. His advisers say Thomas didn't plan for the future. He canceled appointment after appointment to draw up a will. And according to a tally of his assets, he ultimately took more money out of his stock portfolio than he left in it. But some people associated with Thomas suspect others took advantage of his generosity. Thomas had chased down entrepreneurial ideas, and his last was a commercial roofing company, BMI-Metcon. Michael Pierce, at top manager with BMI, and Tammy Mauck, the company's office manager, recall an instance when someone close to Thomas put a few thousand dollars worth of fancy clothing on a BMI credit card. When they alerted Thomas, he took the bill without saying a word and paid it himself. More than once, others talked to Thomas about it. "When you have that many people around you, you have to know that not everybody is there just to be your friend," said Neil Smith, Thomas' longtime teammate and friend. But Thomas wouldn't put a stop to it. "He didn't place that much importance on money," said Carol Coe, one of his confidantes and a former Kansas City councilwoman. "It wasn't a big deal to him. He'd just pay it."
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