It has been six years since actor Chadwick Boseman died from complications from colon cancer, but the battle over his estate continues.
His brothers Kevin and Derrick Boseman filed legal paperwork requesting that his widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, be removed as his estate’s administrator, TMZ reported.
The claim is that she mismanaged the estate he left behind and did not inform his family about the status.
A 2022 court order required that Leroy and Carolyn Boseman, the “Black Panther” actor’s parents, would get a combined 50% share of his estate while giving his wife the other half. Chadwick Boseman died without a will, according to TMZ.
“Nearly four years later,” the lawsuit states, ABC News reported, “Respondent has still not distributed the estate, nor has she filed a petition for discharge with receipts as required ... instead, Respondent continues to exert unilateral control over Decedent’s estate, denying Decedent’s family long overdue closure or participation in decision-making regarding matters affecting Leroy and Carolyn’s interests in Decedent’s estate.”
Leroy and Carolyn Boseman have assigned their sons to handle their side of the estate, according to NBC News.
The estate involves movie residuals, his image and intellectual property rights, investments, insurance policies, bank accounts, and his personal belongings. There was more than $3 million in various bank accounts alone.
The brothers said in the lawsuit that Leward’s failure to transfer what his parents were supposed to get has left them without funds and prevented the family from entering business deals using his legacy.
They also said she is the lone person profiting from his name and image.
“Imagine flipping through the channels and stumbling on a film starring your deceased son or brother, knowing that someone you do not know or trust is profiting from his image without your input or consent,” the lawsuit said, according to NBC News.
The Boseman brothers are asking that their sister-in-law be held in contempt for not following the 2022 order and to provide a complete accounting of the estate, as well as distribute what she was ordered to distribute.
They also want her removed as the administrator, barred from signing contracts involving the estate without the rest of the family’s approval and for attorney Jason Rubin to be appointed in her stead.
A request for comment from Ledward by NBC News was not returned.
Chadwick Boseman died on Aug. 28, 2020, at the age of 43, ABC News reported. He did not tell fans that he had been privately battling colon cancer, so his death came as a shock to fans.
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