Filmmaker John Singleton died in 2019, yet the family battle over his estate seems never-ending.
The director left behind a $6 million in assets. Singleton’s original will named his oldest daughter, Justice, as the sole beneficiary of his estate. He had not updated the will to include his other six children after their birth. Later the family reached an agreement stating that all of Singleton’s children would be beneficiaries of the estate.
The children — Justice, Selenesol, Hadar, Massai, Cleopatra, Isis, and Seven — were entitled to share an equal 1/7 interest in their father’s estate.
But this family continues battle over who gets what. His mother, Sheila Ward, is currently handing the estate. Ward was entrusted with overseeing her son’s estate, which included various business interests that continued to generate income from past work. She has been in a legal battle with Singleton’s daughter Cleopatra.
The Latest?
RadarOnline is reporting that Ward won a recent legal battle against her granddaughter, who had requested a major four-figure monthly allowance from the estate.
Ward asked the court to terminate Cleopatra’s monthly allowance of $2,700 previously granted for her education. This allowance had initially been approved by the court in December 2019 to assist Cleopatra, who was then a “full-time student with limited income sources,” read court docs, according to RadarOnline.
As Finurah previously reported, the profits from the sale of Singleton’s Miami property valued at $244,453.35 went to Cleopatra.
Ward asked the court to halt payments to Cleopatra since she has continued to receive the payments even though she graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans in May 2021.
RadarOnline reported the court recently sided with Ward about the allowance, though this had not been confirmed by other sources at presstime.
Long Family Fight
Ward took control of Singleton’s finances when the actor was in a coma following a stroke on April 17, 2019. Ward almost immediately filed papers in court in Los Angeles seeking to be named his conservator, or guardian.
Cleopatra disagreed at the time with Ward’s assertion that Singleton was in a coma.
“My father is not in a coma,” Cleopatra told The New York Times. “My father had a stroke on April 17, 2019, and at this point we are optimistic about a full recovery.”
“Myself, several of my siblings, and my father’s father will oppose my grandmother’s application to be appointed my father’s legal conservator,” she continued.
According to Ward’s court documents, Singleton was actively involved in multiple business transactions at the time of his stroke. He had also been scheduled to finalize a profitable settlement agreement on or around April 30.
The 51-year-old Singleton, who directed more than 10 films and TV series, died on April 28, 2019.
After Singleton’s death the fighting continued.
Singleton’s failure to update his will during his lifetime resulted in family disputes. And since Singleton died with only a will in place, and not a trust, his estate had to go through the probate court, Forbes reported. Ward, filed to open the probate proceeding and asked the court to admit his 1993 will. In her court filing, Ward listed her son’s heirs as five acknowledged children, plus two minor daughters, each of whom she named as an “Alleged Daughter.”
As Finurah previously reported, the will was settled in February, divying the estate up.
