Posted on 01/17/2007 6:16:12 PM PST by COUNTrecount
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Nearly three weeks after James Brown's funeral, the "Godfather of Soul" is yet to be buried and his former partner is contesting his will in a bid to receive half of his estate.
Brown's body is being kept in a temperature-controlled room at his home in South Carolina in the bronze and gold-plated coffin used for his funeral in Augusta, Georgia, on December 30, funeral director Charlie Reid told Reuters on Wednesday.
The family is building a mausoleum at the home on Beech Island and would bury Brown when it was finished, likely next month, said Reid, adding that he checked on the body daily.
"These things (delaying burials) occur from time to time. It's not something that's usual but for special occasions it's something that can occur," he said. A lawyer involved in the case said the burial would likely attract thousands.
His partner Tomi Rae Hynie Brown received nothing when Brown's will was read out last week but will sue for 50 percent of his estate with a further seventh of the remainder to go to the child they had together, according to newspaper reports quoting her lawyer.
But lawyers for Brown say she was never legally married to him because a previous marriage between her and another man, Javed Ahmed, had not been annulled.
"It (the case) will turn on whether she was the spouse. It's preposterous that she would claim one-half. If she is deemed to be the legitimate spouse the most she could claim is one-third," attorney Jim Huff told Reuters.
"Bottom line is we all know what it's about: money and fame, which Mr. Brown had and she did not," said Huff, who represented Brown for 10 years and was involved in the marriage case.
Hynie married Brown in 2001 but in 2003 Brown learned her previous marriage had not been annulled. During her attempt to resolve the issue a court ruled she was not Brown's legal spouse because of her previous marital commitment, he said.
Hynie, a backup dancer in Brown's band, sat on stage during his funeral, which was attended by 9,000 people including pop star Michael Jackson, and at one point descended to Brown's open casket in a public act of farewell.
A lawyer quoted as representing Hynie did not respond to an interview request.
Brown died of congestive heart failure at an Atlanta hospital on December 25.
The singer, also a successful businessman, called himself "the hardest-working man in show business." During a long career he became a symbol of black achievement and his music had a profound influence on dance music and hip hop.
James Brown's daughter Deanna Brown leans down to kiss her father's body after fixing his hair during the public funeral at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia, December 30, 2006. Nearly three weeks after Brown's funeral, the 'Godfather of Soul' is yet to be buried and his former partner is contesting his will in a bid to receive half of his estate.
His funeral was a disgusting show of hedonism, so there's no reason why the aftermath should be anything but a foodfight.
Let's cut off his head and freeze it while we're at it.
Ain't It Funky Now
yikes....he prolly looks like the crypt keeper by now. the funny thing is a friend of our family had a dancin james brown bobble head kind of novelty that my 7 yr old son loves, so he gave it too him for christmas....lol,,,,and all we heard on christmas eve was "i feel good".....then he died the next day..
Wow- I think he's gonna break Gerald Ford's body's record.
Now he's the godfather of funk, and getting funkier.
"Soul" on ice
If the power goes
You must hold nose.
Isn't there just a LOT of weird news these days?
What I wanna know is, is he still wearing those lifts? If not, that might be a pretty short coffin even if they don't cut off his head.
No disrespect to the man, I loved his music. But he was a little, ummm, vertically-challenged...
The hardest working cadaver in show business!!!
"I FEEEEL COLD! Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah!"
Never get between a dead person, his heirs and their lawyers.
How long will the law allow a family to keep a body like this. I know sometimes the funeral directors do it. Like sometimes it takes 2 months to be buried at Arlington, but I didnt know it was legal for a family to keep a stiff in a room at home.
Re: Daughter Deana Brown
The backless dress for the daytime funeral of your father is totally classy.
No. Seriously.
There must be no laws whatsoever concerning disposal of a human body in that state. I read that before his "Harlem Farewell" that Sharpton and crew actually drove Brown's body to NY in a van. Themselves. This was because somehow (go figure) they managed to miss the plane that was supposed to carry the casket to NY. Can you imagine if some cop pulled over the van (going about 90 mph) on its way to Harlem? Five or six people in some van with a gold coffin?
One thing the Brown family never displayed - was class.
Semper Fi
ping
You dont come to Md. with a stiff in the back of a pickup,or van, or a Station Wagon either. If you dont have a mortician permit you dont haul stiffs.
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