It’s not good news for James Brown’s 5 year old son with partner Tomi Rae Hynie. The child wasn’t included in the will read on Thursday to six of the musicians other children.
When Brown died on Christmas morning at the age of 73 the gates of his home were locked. This was done because the house is owned by the trust and “has been that way since August of 2000” says Buddy Dallas, an attorney for James Brown. “Technically, the trustees own it for the benefit of the trust. It was not in teh name of James Brown and hasn’t been that way for years.”
The will provides for Browns first six children, however Hynie’s son, James Jr. is not listed in the document. The will has not yet been filed in probate court.
Hynie’s lawyer, Thornton Morris, said he doesn’t know anything about the will.
“She was locked out of the house so she doesn’t know where the will that’s being probated was found,” Morris said of his client. “She has no knowledge to when this particular will was executed.”
I suppose it’s possible that Brown had written a new will, but that is not the one that’s being read. If he didn’t write a new will to include his youngest son I would imagine that his estate will end up being tied up in court if Hynie decides to protest the will.
A public service for the late Godfather of Soul will be held today at the Apollo Theater in New York City. James Brown died suddenly in the early hours of Monday morning after being admitted to the Emory Crawford Hospital in Atlanta, GA. He’d been diagnosed with pneumonia, but Heart Failure is the reported cause of death. Brown was 73 years old, and he’s survived by his partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, who was one of his back-up singers, and at least four children.