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Court motion seeks to keep fight over Ted Williams' remains in family

IVERNESS, Florida (CNN) -- Seeking to thaw a family dispute over whether Ted Williams' body should be frozen or cremated, an attorney representing the baseball legend's only son filed motions Wednesday arguing the court has no jurisdiction over the matter.

The attorney also requested mandatory mediation between the disputing family members.

Attorney Bob Goldman, who represents John Henry Williams and his sister Claudia, filed the paperwork with the Citrus County Circuit Court a day after the executor of Williams' estate asked the court to intervene in the matter.

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Both John Henry and Claudia Williams say their father wanted to be frozen after he died, but Bobby-Jo Ferrell -- Williams' daughter from his first marriage who was excluded from any inheritance in his will -- has said her father wanted to be cremated.

In fact, Williams' will, written in 1996, states the Boston Red Sox slugger wanted his body cremated. But executor Albert Cassidy said Williams later changed his mind and agreed to have his body preserved.

Goldman said the motions filed Wednesday reflect the fact that John Henry and Claudia are "doing their best to carry out their father's last wishes under difficult circumstances, made more difficult by the intense scrutiny the entire family is enduring."

"These documents also reflect Claudia's and John Henry's sincere hope that this matter can still be resolved privately among the family members," he said.

In addition, he added that a person's will is "not necessarily the controlling document in determining the disposition of remains."

Goldman spoke to reporters outside the court after filing the motions. He said it "should be made clear" that Claudia and John Henry "will never profit from their father's body or the disposition of their father's remains."

"Their motivations have been impugned, often by those with only a remote connection to their father," Goldman said. "No one should dispute Claudia and John Henry's devotion to their father. In fact, those closest to Ted Williams -- his dearest friends, his doctors and those he chose personally to oversee his estate -- consistently affirm it."

Ferrell has accused John Henry of planning to sell her father's DNA. Goldman said the disputing siblings met earlier this week, and he believes a second meeting could help resolve the fight.

Of Ferrell, Goldman said, "I am convinced that she is a good person trying to do her best in trying circumstances. I remain optimistic that over time, the family will be reunited."

The sibling dispute erupted immediately after Williams' death July 5 at age 83. John Henry had his father's body moved from a Florida funeral home to a cryonics lab in Arizona, where it remains currently.

Ferrell has said Williams -- the last batter to bat over .400 for an entire season and considered one of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game -- wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread "over the deep waters of the coast of Florida" where he enjoyed fishing.