Chadwick Boseman’s family members are feuding over his estate, nearly six years after his tragic death.
According to documents obtained by Page Six on Tuesday, the “Black Panther” actor’s two older brothers, Derrick and Kevin Boseman, filed a lawsuit on behalf of their parents, Leroy and Carolyn Boseman, against Chadwick’s widow, Taylor Simone Ledward.
The filing asks the court to remove Ledward as administrator of Chadwick’s estate and order her to distribute assets to Leroy and Carolyn.
The documents allege that Chadwick’s wife had not distributed her late husband’s estate — including over $3.8 million in assets and cash — as ordered by a court back in 2022.
Derrick and Kevin allege in the docs, filed July 17 in Los Angeles, that Ledward — who inherited 50% of the actor’s estate — was expected to distribute the other half equally between Chadwick’s parents, with each of them receiving 25%.
“Nearly four years later, [Taylor] has still not distributed the estate,” the documents read.
“Instead, [Taylor] continues to exert unilateral control over [Chadwick’s] estate, denying [Chadwick’s] family long overdue closure or participation in decision-making regarding matters affecting Leroy and Carolyn’s interests in [Chadwick’s] estate.”
Chadwick’s brothers also allege in the filing that Ledward “failed to fully account” for her late husband’s assets, including “royalties and residuals, image and intellectual property rights, real property, a previously undisclosed bank account, and other personal property.”
The brothers claim Ledward — who previously claimed Chadwick’s assets included $241,000 in an IRA, $3.3 million in stock for Chadwick Boseman, Inc. and $151,000 in cash, deemed by the court as a “true and correct” accounting in 2022 — “failed to officially account for … numerous residual payments from SAG-AFTRA dating between 2020 and the present.”
Derrick and Kevin claimed Chadwick’s widow is not distributing rights to the late actor’s intellectual property and image.
“These rights properly belong to [Chadwick’s] heirs,” the documents read, noting that they are “ostensibly managed by Chadwick Boseman, Inc., a corporate entity completely controlled by [Ledward] and through which she continues to profit from [Chadwick’s] fame.”
The brothers claim Ledward “blocked” them from “pursuing lucrative business opportunities that might benefit [Chadwick’s] elderly parents.”
Ultimately, they alleged, Ledward’s “lack of transparency” with them over the “42” actor’s estate “creates the appearance that she is concealing assets from [Chadwick’s] family and from the Court.”
Page Six has reached out to Ledward’s legal representation for comment and attorneys for Derrick and Kevin did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Boseman died — notably without a will — at the age of 43 on Aug. 28, 2020, following a private and yearslong battle with colon cancer.
