James Brown left no money for youngest son or "widow".

[ronnykmarshall]

Papa may have had a brand new bag. What he didn't have was an updated last will and testament.

Attorneys representing James Brown's estate have said that the late singer's five-year-old son was not mentioned in his will, which was read Thursday to six of Brown's other children, all of whom were provided for in some way.

http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=89653bcf-39c8-4239-be5a-55525800ca6c

That's VERY fucked up.

[eleny]

1. A tell-all book could be in her future

[ronnykmarshall]

3. As she should at this point.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. It is, but does the law allow him to exclude a minor child?

Usually parents can't do that because it increases the chance that the child will become a financial burden to the state. If Brown was legally married to the mother when the child was born he is a legitimate heir. In the case of a child born to unmarried people there is no presumption of paternity and the child would need an attorney to take the proper steps to establish it.

[ronnykmarshall]

4. There's questions about their marriage.

One of JB's lawyers say it wasn't legal.

But she lived with him with their son.

She needs to get a lawyer. PRONTO!

This gonna get UG-LY!

[politicat]

5. I'd say more in a state of denial...

People don't update (or make) wills usually because they can't handle truly facing their own mortality. I would assume that Mr. Brown had a very good lawyer in earlier years who stayed on top of his changing legal situation and made him do the things he needed to do, including updating his will. It's likely that whomever is in charge of his legal situation in the past decade (since he's been out of bankruptcy) wasn't as proactive, and most people just don't think about wills and estate planning if they can help it.

Sad for the little one and his widow. I hope that the other children do the right thing and separate the estate eight ways, putting one in trust for the kid and letting his mom live off of the other eighth. But where money's involved, there's little hope of people doing the right thing, and the will always brings out the hidden resentments.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. OTOH, "missing" children in Wills have been ruled to be "included"

in Wills mentioning other children, depending on the jurisdiction. To disinherit a child specifically, you need to mention them by name in the Will and either leave him/her like $1.00 or specifically state that you are leaving them nothing by your full and complete direction.