The velvet-voiced Barry White, famous for seductive hits like “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe,” left behind more than just a musical legacy when he died in 2003. The soul icon’s $20 million estate has become a cautionary tale of estate planning gone wrong, with legal battles continuing for over two decades after his death.
Who’s Fighting For What
White’s complicated personal life—featuring nine children, two ex-wives, and a long-term girlfriend—created the perfect storm for inheritance disputes.
Despite being separated from his second wife Glodean White for years before his death, they never legally divorced. This critical oversight meant that when White died at 58 after suffering a stroke, his outdated will left Glodean as the primary heir to his fortune, despite his being in a committed relationship with Katherine Denton.
Estate planning failures among high-net-worth individuals typically stem from procrastination or the belief that there’s always time to update documents later. Unfortunately for White, that “later” never came, leaving his loved ones to deal with the consequences.
The legal disputes began almost immediately.
Denton, who gave birth to a daughter shortly before White’s death, sought financial support based on verbal promises White had allegedly made. However, paternity tests revealed White wasn’t the father, leaving Denton with no legal claim to the estate.
In 2016, Denise Donnell White, who discovered in 1988 that she was White’s biological daughter, filed a lawsuit against the estate. The payments, totaling $350,000, were abruptly terminated.
According to the lawsuit, Courthouse News reports, the White Family Trust issued a series of checks to Denise over approximately a decade. These checks typically ranged from $1,200 to $1,500, with some exceptions. Notably, on Feb. 5, 2007, she received a check for $100,000, followed by one for $64,791 on Jan. 29, 2008, and another for $42,383 six months later.
According to court filings, Denise claimed she had been cut off from both financial support and family functions despite White’s verbal assurances.
The most public battle emerged in 2017 when White’s son Darryl sued both the estate and Glodean, claiming he was nearly destitute while his stepmother lived lavishly off his father’s royalties, Courthouse News reports. Darryl alleged that Glodean had convinced him not to challenge the will initially, promising fair distribution of assets that never materialized.
When verbal promises conflict with legal documents, the documents almost always prevail in court. This creates deep family wounds that can span generations, as clearly demonstrated in White’s case.
The conflicts extend beyond family members.
According to Billboard, in early 2024, the Barry White Family Trust filed a lawsuit seeking over $1 million in damages against producers Rodney-O and Joe Cooley, alleging copyright infringement. The suit claims their 1986 track “Everlasting Bass” sampled White’s 1973 song “I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More, Babe” without authorization — a sample that gained renewed attention when used in Future, Metro Boomin, and Kendrick Lamar’s hit “Like That.”
What makes White’s estate particularly valuable is that he owned his publishing rights — a rarity for artists of his era. These rights generate ongoing royalties from his extensive catalog, creating a substantial income stream that continues to fuel family disputes.
Estate planning experts point to several simple steps that could have prevented these decades of litigation: updating his will after separation, establishing clear trusts for various beneficiaries, and documenting any verbal promises in legally binding agreements.
The White estate demonstrates how emotional and financial damage can cascade through generations when proper planning is neglected. Even verbal commitments to loved ones should be formalized through legal documentation to avoid the type of prolonged conflict that has plagued White’s family.
As White’s music continues to influence new generations of artists through samples and streaming, the family conflicts surrounding his estate serve as a powerful reminder that even immense talent and wealth cannot overcome the consequences of inadequate estate planning.
