Sneed scoop: Cubs will pay for Ernie Banks' funeral

Sneed exclusive:

Sneed has learned the Chicago Cubs management and the Ricketts family have stepped up to the plate and agreed to pay the $35,000 tab for Cubs legend Ernie Banks’ funeral.

“Cubs management and the Ricketts family have addressed the issue,” said Joseph Donnellan, owner of the Donnellan Funeral Home, which handled Banks’ memorial.

The funeral home filed a claim for the money Wednesday in court. The court file includes a bill dated Feb. 6 — the day Banks was buried — that the funeral home sent to Banks’ widow, Elizabeth Banks. Among other expenses, the funeral home said the casket cost nearly $11,000, flowers cost $6,755, car services amounted to more than $3,000 and there were about $2,700 in staff fees.

Last month, after an attorney for Banks’ longtime caregiver, Regina Rice, said a preliminary estimate showed Banks had assets worth just $16,000, a probate judge gave Rice 30 days to provide a full accounting of the estate.

Elizabeth Banks has challenged a will Banks signed in October — without her knowledge, she contends — that leaves all his assets to Rice and nothing to her or Banks’ children.

Contributing: AP