James Brown Estate Settlement Agreement Under Review
A new settlement agreement is on the table regarding the late James Brown's estate. The "Augusta Chronicle" says Judge Jack Early, who has been overseeing the matter, appointed accountant Russell Bauknight to review the agreement, and has given him "limited authority" in handling the situation. The new deal gives half of the late Godfather of Soul's estate to his charitable efforts. It also recognizes Tomi Rae Hynie as Brown's legal widow, and she and her son, James Brown the Second, would receive 25-percent of the estate. The remaining 25-percent would go to the singer's five adult children. Current trustees Adele Pope and Robert Buchanan reportedly don't approve of the agreement, in part because they claim they weren't involved in the negotiations. The next hearing in the matter is slated for January.
Pope and Buchanan are still the Brown estate trustees and Judge Early noted that the appointment of Bauknight was not done because he disapproved of the way Buchanan and Pope have handled the job. Brown died in a hospital in Atlanta on Christmas Day 2006, less than two after he was admitted for pneumonia. |