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James Brown
James Brown's will leaves out child - Jan 19 2007 Soul legend James Brown's will names six children but leaves out the five-year-old child he had with Tomi Rae Hynie.
The will, filed in South Carolina yesterday, begins: "I, James Brown, also known as 'The Godfather of Soul'... have six living children."
The bequest, dividing his personal possessions among the six children, was signed 10 months before the child's birth and more than a year before the singer married Tomi Rae.
Lawyers who handled the will said the child may be entitled to some of the estate, but a paternity test would be needed.
"We would not want to divide and deliver property until all these issues are resolved," said attorney Ray Massey.
The will says the singer intentionally failed to provide for "any other relatives or persons whether claiming, or to claim, to be an heir of mine or not".
The singer's children have said they are planning to turn his home into a museum and build a mausoleum on the site.
Most of his "primary assets," including music rights and his 60-acre Beech Island, South Carolina, estate, are in an irrevocable trust separate from his will, according to attorney and trustee Buddy Dallas.
Tomi Rae Hynie's lawyer, Robert Rosen, said on Wednesday that he will sue, asking a court to rule she was legally married to James Brown.
"At the end of the day, in my opinion, Tomi Rae Hynie will inherit 50% of James Brown's estate and the trust and the child, James Brown's son, will inherit one-seventh of the other 50%." James Brown’s will made before wedding - Jan 16 2007 James Brown’s will, which excludes his partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, and their five-year-old son, was reportedly drawn up before the child’s birth and before the couple’s marriage.
The will, which was read last week, was signed on August 1, 2000, Strom Thurmond Jr, the singer’s probate attorney in Aiken, South Carolina, said.
The Godfather of soul, who died last month in Atlanta at age 73, married Tomi Rae in December 2001, six months after James Brown Jr had been born on June 11.
The exclusion has added to a dispute about the soul singer’s legacy, whose attorneys contend that Tomi Rae is not Brown’s widow because she was still married to another man when they said their vows.
They have said she later annulled her previous marriage, but she and the singer never remarried. Tomi Rae insists the couple were legally married.
The will calls for the singer’s personal effects to be divided equally among his six adult children.
Lawyer James Huff said that if a will specifically names some children but excludes others, the excluded children have no claim to the parent’s assets, regardless of when they were born.
The lawyer represented James Brown when he sought to annul his marriage to Tomi Rae in 2004, a petition the singer later dismissed. Soul icon ’ordered DNA test’ - Jan 5 2007 Soul legend James Brown instructed attorneys before he died to carry out DNA tests to show if he was the father of his wife’s son, his family lawyer has claimed.
Debra Opri said the singer never wanted five-year-old James Joseph Brown II tested when he was alive, but wanted it done for the rest of his family’s sake once he was gone.
The boy is the son of Tomi Rae Hynie, 36, who after the star’s death on Christmas Day said she was locked out of his South Carolina home after another lawyer alleged they had not been legally married.
Hynie insists that they were and that she has documentation to prove it, and that Brown was her son’s father.... read more
