James Brown's Partner Threatens Suit
James Brown's will, filed in Aiken County on Thursday, names six children and calls for many household possessions like furniture, pictures and china to be divided among them.
The will, obtained by The Associated Press, does not name the 5-year-old child of Brown and his partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, a former backup singer for Brown.
The will begins, "I, James Brown, also known as 'The Godfather of Soul' ... have six living children."
The bequest was signed 10 months before the child's birth and more than a year before Brown was married to Hynie.
The will says Brown intentionally failed to provide for an "any other relatives or persons whether claiming, or to claim, to be an heir of mine or not."Photos: James Brown's Funeral In Augusta
Brown died of heart failure in an Atlanta hospital Christmas morning at age 73.
Most of Brown's "primary assets," including the singer's music rights and his 60-acre Beech Island estate, are in an irrevocable trust separate from his will, according to Brown's attorney and trustee, Buddy Dallas.
Dallas didn't know how much the trust was worth.
On Thursday, Brown's body remained in a sealed, gold casket in a temperature-controlled room at his Beech Island home, said Charles Reid, manager of the C.A. Reid Funeral Home in Augusta, Ga., which handled Brown's funeral.
The will, and Hynie's exclusion, have added to a dispute about Brown's legacy.
Brown's attorneys contend that Hynie is not Brown's widow because she was still married to another man when they said their vows. They have said Hynie later annulled her previous marriage, but she and Brown never remarried.
Hynie's attorney, Robert Rosen, said Wednesday that he will sue, asking a court to rule Hynie was legally married to Brown and is entitled to half of his estate.
"At the end of the day, in my opinion, Tomi Rae Hynie will inherit 50 percent of James Brown's estate and the trust and the child, James Brown's son, will inherit one-seventh of the other 50 percent," Rosen said.
By Katrina A. Goggins