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The exchange is part of documents obtained by The Associated Press that show the extent to which distrust was growing between Tom Benson's third wife, Gayle, and the family of Benson's daughter from his first marriage months before they wound up in court.

Renee Benson had not yet been disowned by her father, and the current legal struggle among Benson family members for control of the NFL's Saints and NBA's New Orleans Pelicans was still five months away.

But in a terse email to Lauscha, Renee Benson expressed concern that she and her two children, Rita and Ryan LeBlanc, hadn't found out about a surgical procedure performed on the family's 87-year-old patriarch until after the fact. And when they did find out, it was not from Tom Benson himself, or even from an email update that Gayle Benson had sent to about two dozen people.

It was from Lauscha, who had forwarded Gayle Benson's update to them.

"So he has this done without any of us knowing ... This is not how our family does things!" Renee Benson wrote to Lauscha on Aug. 7. "Please. Keep us better informed!"

Currently, Tom Benson has been undergoing a court-ordered psychiatric examination which the judge wants completed by Friday. The results, which the judge has ordered be kept private, could help decide who controls New Orleans' major pro sports franchises.

In late December, Tom Benson notified his daughter and her two children that he was disowning them and removing them from ownership and executive positions in his professional sports teams. The teams' owner then announced in January that, upon his death, he would leave control of his business empire to Gayle Benson, whom he married in 2004.

The new succession plan spawned a lawsuit by the estranged heirs, who've asked a judge in New Orleans to declare Tom Benson mentally unfit to oversee his own affairs. The lawsuit painted Gayle Benson as a manipulative woman who has conspired with certain Saints and Pelicans executives to isolate an enfeebled Tom Benson from family, and to seize control of his businesses.

Paul Cordes, an attorney for Tom or Gayle Benson, said Wednesday that the team owner's daughter and grandchildren "had full access" to him during times they sent emails about being kept out of the loop, and that Lauscha was ensuring they were informed as he always did.

Representatives for Renee Benson, and Rita and Ryan LeBlanc, also declined comment.

The documents obtained by AP include a confidential letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell which outlined Tom Benson's intention, as recently as last June, to name his now-estranged daughter and her children as "voting co-trustees" of Saints assets placed in trust for them, and to name Rita LeBlanc as owner representative, giving her authority to represent the club at NFL owners meetings.

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