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Disputes related to James Brown's estate continue to wend through the courts nearly 20 years after his death. The South Carolina Supreme Court recently affirmed an order sanctioning one of the trustees of Brown's estate, Adele Pope, in a per curium opinion. Per curium is Latin for "by the court" and, as such, per curium opinions do not have a single author.
Brown, known as the "hardest working man in show business" and "the godfather of soul," died on Christmas Day 2006 in Atlanta. He lived in Beech Island and his estate is being distributed according to a will he signed Aug. 1, 2000.
The will divided Brown's estate into two parts. His personal and household effects went to his six children. The remainder of his estate — including a song catalog a company paid an estimated $90 million for in 2021 — went to a trust.
The estate proceeds in the trust were also divided in two and placed in two sub-trusts: $2 million would go to provide educations for Brown's grandchildren (the Brown Family Education Trust) and the remainder would fund scholarships for disadvantaged youth (the James Brown 'I Feel Good' Trust). " I got you (I feel good) " is the name of a song Brown first sang in 1964. To this day, almost 20 years later, no funds from Brown's estate have been used to fulfill the purposes he set forth in the "'I Feel Good" Trust, the court wrote.
Brown also named three men personal representatives of his estate and trustees of the trusts. He created a three-member advisory board to provide assistance to them. ".
..the original representatives were forced out on allegations of misconduct," the court wrote in the per curium opinion.
Pope and Robert L. Buchanan Jr. became special administrators in 2007.
Former South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster — now the state's governor — intervened in 2008 and Pope and Buchanan were also forced out and the current special administrator, Russell Bauknight, appointed in 2009. Pope has protested ever since. As special administrator, Bauknight filed suit against Pope in 2010 over alleged misconduct and continued actions allegedly against the trust.
In that lawsuit, Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman issued an order in 2023 sanctioning Pope $32,137.50 and striking her answer over several frivolous filings. Newman found five grounds to sanction Pope.
First, the Supreme Court noted Pope had made frivolous filings in a 2023 opinion. Second and third, Pope was warned about continuing to make those filings and has a history of that kind of conduct. Fourth, Pope could not provide a justification for her filings.
And fifth, sanctions were proper under the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure and the South Carolina Frivolous Civil Proceedings Sanctions Act. "Pope argues the sanctions against her are improper..
. because (1) her multiple attempts to lift the stay were not frivolous and did not delay the case; (2) she was sanctioned as a party; (3) attorneys' fees and costs were improperly determined; and (4) it was improper to strike her answer," the court wrote. "We disagree and affirm.
" Bauknight is also disputing the royalties of "What my baby needs now is a little more lovin' " with the personal representative of Lyn Collins' estate. Brown and Collins wrote the song together in 1972..
