James Brown's Family Settles 15 Year Legal Battle For His Estate
Music legend James Brown's family members saw an end to their decade and a half battle over the singer's estate. Since his death, on Christmas Day of 2006, an onslaught of lawsuits have been set forth to by individuals trying to acquire Brown's 60-acre mansion.
After a long bout of litigation and a number legal detours, an agreement was finally made on July 9th.
According to the will that Brown made up six years before his death from pneumonia induced heart failure, a culmination fo his assets and royalties from his discography were to be put into creating a charity fund. A large portion of his immense fortune was initially intended to be used to fund a scholarship program for unfortunate families in South Carolina and Georgia.
Though - thanks majorly to the singer's partner Tomi Rae Hynie - this didn't go quite as the 'Godfather of Soul' planned. Hynie, a singer who claimed to be Brown's last wife, was more than shocked to find that neither her name or that of her son's were found on Brown's will. Seeing as how her marriage to the star was not entirely recognized by law, she returned to Brown's South Carolina home to find that she was locked out.
As the court listed the estate to be worth somewhere between six to nine figures, lawsuits were bandied out by a number of individuals trying to get a fraction of it. Hynie was a frontrunner in the court's eyes to receive a portion and in 2009, a settlement was made by then attorney general Henry McMaster for her to get a quarter of his estate. Half was intended to go towards the scholarship charity and the remainder would go to the rest of his family.
Though, the ruling was eventually overturned four years later, as the settlement did not properly fulfill Brown's intentions for the scholarship program that was listed in his will.
Hynie's endeavors of getting her hands on the Brown estate were thwarted once again last year, when her marriage with the singer was called into question. According to Associated Press News, she, "failed to annul a previous marriage." Because she was never legally married to Brown, she had no rights to any of his assets.
Earlier this month, a presumably final settlement was made. Brown's estate attorney David Black broke the news on Friday, though specific details have yet to be disclosed.
Sources: Variety, Rolling Stone, Associated Press News
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