89-year-old philanthropist caught in conservatorship nightmare can’t help charities at Christmas

Said Mrs. B: “I’m a tough old bird.” 

Just The News: A beloved Alabama philanthropist won’t be able to support her favorite charity this year at Christmas, thanks to legal maneuverings that blocked the 89-year-old heiress from using her own charitable foundation — and threaten her independence.

For more than two years, Joann Bashinsky has been fighting to regain her financial autonomy after two former employees filed an emergency petition alleging that she has dementia and is mentally unfit to handle her multimillion dollar estate. 

The Golden Flake potato chip heiress, known to many as “Mrs. B.,” won a first round earlier this year when the Alabama Supreme Court overturned the emergency order that placed a guardian and a conservator in charge of her. She still, however, faces a hearing next year on whether she will be permanently placed under the conservator’s control. In the meantime, she said, she cannot use the foundation money that enabled her to help others at Christmas. more