James Brown’s Estate was $20 Million in Debt

Your Black World reports

An attorney told the Associated Press that James Brown’s estate had dropped to serious financial lows before he was able to turn it around.  Before the turnaround, there was just $14,000 in a charitable trust and another $20 million in debt.

The manager took control over the estate, wiped out the debt and even cleared the road for Brown’s family to give scholarships.   David Black, an attorney for the man who managed Brown’s money, made the information public.

Under the deal made after Brown’s death, half the assets were given to Brown’s trust, and a quarter was given to his son and widow.  The rest was given to his adult children.   But the deal may be thrown out after trustees say that it never should have been approved.

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster made the deal after Brown died of heart failure in 2006.   But the trustees who were removed from the deal, Adele Pope and Robert Buchanan, are stating that the attorney general didn’t have the authority to push the settlement through.

The trustees are claiming that they were not a part of the negotiations and were removed because of their opposition.  The South Carolina Supreme Court will be hearing arguments in the case this week.