Given that his wishes have been carried out, perhaps the Godfather of Soul’s soul will finally be able to rest in peace.
James Brown, a legendary singer, passed unexpectedly on Christmas Day 2006, and his will, which he had written six years earlier, provided three provisions for notice.
First off, the majority of the singer’s riches were left to disadvantaged kids in South Carolina and Georgia. He was born in South Carolina and was raised in Georgia.
Second, $2 million had been designated in the bequest to fund scholarships for his grandchildren.
Thirdly, it stated that any heirs who objected would forfeit their inheritance. Well, this one was immediately dropped since a number of the singer’s children and grandchildren filed a lawsuit following his passing.
James Brown has Children and Grandchildren Have Filed Lawsuits
James Joseph Brown Jr., Lisa, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas, and Venisha Brown are among Brown’s nine acknowledged children. Teddy, Terry, Larry, Daryl, and James Joseph Brown Sr. are his five sons.
James Brown (Pinterest)The children requested the removal of Mr. Brown’s appointed executors, including the retired judge Alfred Bradley, attorney Albert H. Dallas, and accountant David Cannon, according to The New York Times.
One of the children’s attorneys claimed that Brown, who battled drug addiction while still living, had impaired mental ability and was unjustly influenced by these friends.
The fact that Brown’s will was mired in legal disputes and kept in courtrooms for fifteen years was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Concerning James Brown’s Widowed Wife
The singer’s widow, Tommie Rae Hynie, turned out to be a significant loose end in his will.
After seeing Hynie perform in a performance in Las Vegas in 1998, Brown got in touch with her. In 2001, they got married, and they even had a son together.
According to the story, the couple got married, got a divorce, decided against it, and then reconciled just before the singer passed away.
Therefore, Hynie would have been entitled to a third of Brown’s estate worth under state law as his widow, regardless of what Brown had specified regarding beneficiaries in his will.
The issue here was that when Hynie married Brown, she was already legally wed to Javed Ahmed.
She consented to the marriage after discovering that Ahmed already had three other wives in Pakistan.
However, Brown requested an annulment in 2004 after finding out about Hynie’s prior union. However, this was not the topic at hand.
James Brown (Pinterest)The lower courts agreed with the attorneys’ alternative justification, and they did so. The defense was straightforward: Because Ahmed had multiple affairs, their previous union was null and void.
The state’s top court later disagreed, though. Their justification is:
Unless the initial marriage of a party has been “declared void” by an order of a competent court, all marriages entered into while that party still has a spouse are invalid.
There had been no such proclamation in Hynie and Mr. Ahmed’s union.
What Became of James Brown’s Estate?
Now that the singer’s inheritance dispute has been resolved, all of her assets are being sold to Primary Wave Music.
A New York-based business called Primary Wave Music specializes in selling song collections and estates. For an estimated $90 million, they are purchasing Brown’s assets, including the rights to his name and likeness, real properties, and music rights.
The terms of the deal, according to other New York Times reporting, were kept under wraps.
The only beneficiaries of Brown’s estate, it was later discovered, were two trusts for children in need in South Carolina and Georgia, who were to receive the majority of his wealth, and his grandkids, whose share was restricted to around $2 million.
To respect Brown’s legacy and introduce his music to new audiences, the acquiring business plans to publish a variety of new projects.