Famed DJ Herb Kent’s daughter is contesting her father’s will

Robbin Kent, the only daughter of legendary radio personality Herb Kent, is turning to her father’s fans to help her contest his will.

Kent died at age 88 on Oct. 22, 2016.

Robbin Kent, 54, is launching a gofundme campaign to pay the legal fees she is likely to rack up protesting the distribution of her father’s wealth.

“It is with a heavy and exhausted heart that I come to you all for assistance in these trying times. Along with losing my father, I am in the midst of a tedious legal battle over my father’s estate,” Kent wrote in a post she plans to use for the funding site.

Although she could not say what her father’s net worth was at the time of his death, the Hall of Fame DJ worked for 65 years in the Chicago radio market, performed at paid gigs nationwide, and taught at Chicago State University for decades.

He was the owner of at least two residences: a home in Flossmoor and a condo in Bronzeville.

His daughter is widely known in the music industry because she often appeared at her father’s events.

It was no secret that the “Daddy’s Girl” and the father’s longtime girlfriend, Linda Stanford, had a contentious relationship, according to close associates of the radio personality.

“Herb loved his daughter very much and she was close to him, but there was a split between her and Linda. They had a real nasty relationship,” said Ken Bedford, an events producer and close friend of Herb Kent.

“From Robbin’s standpoint, she felt she was being left out. For [Stanford] to leave the daughter out now is unconscionable,” he said.

According to Bedford, Kent’s mental health declined over the last few years of his life.

“He was really kind of losing it at the end,” he said.

Kent is accusing Stanford of manipulating her father during the last years of his life.

“They were not married and my father had dementia. The woman took advantage of him and ran amuck. I am the sole heir,” Kent told me.

On Wednesday, lawyers for both parties met behind closed doors for a mediation. The probate case was opened on May 12.

Stanford did not return my phone calls about this issue.

Stanford’s attorney, Eugene E. Murphy Jr. of Murphy & Hourihane, LLC declined to comment about the probate case. But he pointed out the estate has just opened and it would be another 15 to 30 days before he has any answers.

According to the will filed in probate court dated Nov. 4, 2013, and signed by Herbert R. Kent, Stanford is designated the “executor” of the estate.

His longtime radio producer, Tracy Kendrick, is the “successor executor,” should Stanford be unable to fulfill her role.

Kent said she and Kent’s only grandchild, Evan Proctor, were left out entirely.

“She hasn’t given me anything. Not a shoe or boot or a dirty pair of underwear. My father was my world and [Stanford] knows it,” Robbin Kent said.

But when it comes to wills, blood is not always thicker than water.

We saw that when Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks died of a heart attack in 2015 and left everything to a caretaker.

That bombshell led to accusations from Bank’s family members that the caretaker, Regina Rice, took advantage of Banks and coerced him into handing over assets.

A Cook County probate judge, however, found Banks was of sound mind when he signed a will that handed all of his worldly goods to Rice.

Robbin Kent said she intends to fight for what she believes is rightfully hers.

“I don’t think my father would have wanted his only heir to be left out with nothing. That makes no sense,” she said.