Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg’s children are suing his widow over alleged violations of his trust.
Sandberg, a Hall of Famer known as “Ryno” and perhaps best remembered for his iconic performance on June 23, 1984, aka the “Sandberg Game,” died last summer at 65 of metastatic prostate cancer.
In a lawsuit filed in Lake County court, Sandberg’s children from his first marriage — son Justin and daughter Lindsey — accuse his second wife, Margaret Sandberg, of trying to shift control of his name, image and likeness to his stepson and the family financial adviser shortly before he died.
Before his death, Sandberg had signed a document to set up a publicity rights trust after his death to control his name, image and likeness. Justin Sandberg, Lindsey Sandberg Newton and Margaret Sandberg were named as trustees.
But Margaret Sandberg never responded to her stepchildren when they tried to set up the trust, and it was never created, in what Justin Sandberg and Lindsey Sandberg Newton say was a “direct contravention” to their dad’s wishes, according to the suit filed in April.
Sandberg married Margaret Koehnemann in August 1995, not long after his divorce from his first wife, Cindy, became official.
The family’s financial advisers also tried twice to open a bank account in which the late Cub’s publicity rights checks would be deposited. His children filled out the necessary documents, but Margaret Sandberg did not, and no bank account has been opened, the lawsuit says.
Margaret Sandberg showed them a note earlier this year purportedly written by Ryne Sandberg before his death. It identifies Steven Koehnemann, Margaret Sandberg’s son from a previous marriage (and Ryne Sandberg’s stepson), as well as family financial adviser Kathy Lintz, as part of the “NIL committee,” referring to the name, image and likeness of Ryne Sandberg.
In the lawsuit, Ryne Sandberg’s children say the note isn’t a valid amendment to his trust because it wasn’t presented to them until months after it was written and because any changes to the trust require consent of the trustees.
They also say the note was dated four days before their father entered hospice care in July 2025 and that he was in severe physical pain and mental anguish, calling into question his ability to make decisions about the trust. They say Sandberg was heavily medicated at the time and that it was difficult to hold conversations with him. The note was dated the same day Lindsey Sandberg Newton heard her dad screaming out in pain, the complaint states.
Sandberg died July 28, 2025.
In the trust document, Ryne Sandberg urged his first two children and his second wife to work together to make decisions.
“It would disappoint me if they were unable to make decisions on my NIL in a positive and collaborative manner,” he wrote, according to the lawsuit. “It is also important to me to have any project reflect positively on my legacy and my entire family.”
Margaret Sandberg could not be reached for comment. Norm Finkel, a lawyer representing Justin Sandberg and Lindsey Sandberg Newton, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
