More from the ongoing James Brown estate case. A new trustee has been appointed in a bid to speed up the settlement of the late soul legend's affairs, which remain in the air despite the fact that we're approaching the second anniversary of his death.
As previously reported, a lawyer representing some of Brown's adult children recently called for the current trustees of their father's estate, Adele Pope and Robert Buchanan, to be removed, arguing they lacked the experience to deal with a case this complicated and that was slowing things down. Pope and Buchanan had been appointed trustees by the court after the original trustees were removed or resigned after one of them was accused of misappropriating funds.
Most concerned parties seem to welcome the new appointment of certified public accountant Russell Bauknight as a trustee, with some saying that his involvement should enable a settlement to be reached sooner rather than later.
As previously reported, there is a settlement deal on the table which would see all of the singer's adult children and his widow, Tomi Rae Hynie, and the couple's young son receive some monies, while other assets would be put into a trust to fund the education of both his grandchildren and disadvantaged children in Georgia and South Carolina. This is despite Hynie and Brown's marriage not being legal.
Latest reports suggest one of Brown's children and two grandchildren oppose that settlement, though it's thought the court could green-light the proposal without their consent. It's also thought Bauknight may look to do just that in order to bring the dispute to a close.