B.B. King’s children fight over his multi-million dollar estate
B.B. King’s 11 children are reportedly at loggerheads over the late singer’s multi-million dollar fortune.
The blues legend – who died in May last year, aged 89 – fathered 15 children from 15 different women during the course of his eventful life, and the surviving 11 are currently fighting with his appointed trustee over his estate.
The children have claimed the estate is worth between $30 and $40 million, and insist they were each promised a proportion of the fortune in a will the music icon wrote up in 2007, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
On the other hand, LaVerne Toney, the executor of his estate and also King’s long-time business manager, is said to be following a 2014 trust.
In it, the children are named but they are not given specific monetary gifts. It is claimed, too, that the value of the estate is markedly smaller than the surviving children have suggested, at around $5 million.
Meanwhile, two of King’s daughters – Karen Williams and Patty King – have previously claimed that Toney and personal assistant Myron Johnson killed their father.
They said: "I believe my father was poisoned and was administrated foreign substances to induce his premature death. I request a formal investigation."
The notion has been dismissed out of hand by Toney, who has questioned the integrity of the pair.
He explained: "They’ve been making allegations all along, what’s new?"
King is widely considered to be one of the most influential musicians of all time, and is often referred to as The King of the Blues.
His death in Las Vegas, Nevada, 12 months ago has been attributed to a combination of congestive heart failure and diabetic complications.
