JAMES BROWN'S LOVER LOSES SLICE OF $100M PIE!
Baby mama wed to another man when she married Godfather of Soul
IN THE latest twist in the battle over James Brown’s will, his “widow,” Tomi Rae Hynie, has been cut out of his $100 million estate!
In a bombshell decision, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Tomi Rae never ended an earlier marriage — and was not legally wed to the Godfather of Soul!
But the nearly 14-year legal skirmish isn’t over yet — with the couple’s son, James Brown II, forced to go to court to get his share of the estate!
The shock ruling also directs a lower court to execute the main component of the I Feel Good singer’s final wish — creating an educational fund for underprivileged kids in South Carolina and Georgia.
The legal wrangling has kept Brown’s fortune tied up in court — and prevented the needy kids from getting any money!
“The ongoing litigation since Brown’s passing has thwarted his expressed wish that his estate be used for educational purposes,” Chief Justice Donald Wayne Beatty writes.
He also notes “no scholarships have been paid to date, a point we find both extraordinary and lamentable.”
Brown died Dec. 25, 2006, at the age of 73, leaving his personal and household belongings to his nine children. His will created a $2 million fund to educate his descendants and left the publishing rights and majority of his estate to the I Feel Good foundation for poor children. But the will wasn’t ironclad, spawning dozens of lawsuits — with the bulk of Brown’s fortune going to pay estate administrator Russell Bauknight and other lawyers.
The bare-knuckle brawling began as soon as Brown passed when the Living in America star’s adult children booted Tomi Rae from his 60-acre estate.
They believed her Dec. 14, 2001, marriage to the singer was invalid because she was still hitched to Javed Ahmed, a Pakistani national she wed in 1997.
In 2018, the South Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s finding Tomi Rae was legally the singer’s widow because her marriage to Ahmed was voided — setting the stage for the Supreme Court battle.
The Supreme Court ruling on June 17 found Tomi Rae’s annulment to Ahmed was invalid, meaning she was never legally married to Brown and has no claim on his estate. A DNA test determined her 19-year-old son was fathered by the superstar and he’s entitled to his share of the inheritance.
But now that his mother is no longer his legal guardian, the teenager must make his own claim, a legal source close to the courtroom drama tells GLOBE.
Tomi Rae’s lawyer, Robert Rosen, did not return repeated messages left at his office.
Amid the estate showdown, Brown’s remains — reportedly resting in a crypt on his daughter Deanna’s property — may be exhumed as part of a murder investigation launched by Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Paul Howard Jr.
The probe comes as many associated with the soul music legend say they doubt his death was due to natural causes.
Investigative journalist Sue Summer says she hopes the higher court’s ruling helps end the drawn-out siege over the estate.
“Follow the will!” she tells GLOBE.
“What’s important about the Supreme Court’s decision is that it orders the lower court to probate the estate in accordance with the will — and that means helping the children through the I Feel Good fund.”
When contacted, estate administer Bauknight said he does not comment on private clients.
“James Brown was a public figure and a private client,” he tells GLOBE.
“I would never speak to the press about the affairs of the estate.”