Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY NETWORK
Chadwick Boseman's brothers have filed to have his widow removed as an administrator of his estate
Nearly six years after Chadwick Boseman’s tragic death from colon cancer at the age of 43 years old, a legal dispute over his estate is now spilling into public view as Boseman’s brothers are seeking to remove his widow as administrator of his estate.
According to reports, Chadwick Boseman’s brothers Kevin and Derrick filed legal documents in Los Angeles Superior Court petitioning to have his widow, Taylor Simone Ledward Boseman, removed as administrator of his estate.
Chadwick Boseman’s brothers are seeking to have his widow removed as an administrator of his estate
The brothers allege she has repeatedly violated a 2022 court order and left the Boseman family almost entirely in the dark about the state of their late brother’s finances.
Among the claims are accusations of not transferring a long-term care insurance policy to their mother, leaving over $3 million in bank accounts undistributed, ignoring SAG-AFTRA residuals, and blocking business opportunities tied to Boseman’s image and legacy nearly four years after the court ruling.
“Chadwick’s estate includes money from movie residuals and royalties, his image and intellectual property rights, investments, insurance policies, bank accounts, and personal belongings … and his brothers claim his family has no clue about what’s going on with any of it. This includes the more than $3 million in assets in various bank accounts.” [via TMZ]
Boseman died on August 28, 2020 from colon cancer — a diagnosis he had privately battled for four years — without a will in place. A 2022 court order established that Taylor would control half of the estate while Boseman’s parents Leroy and Carolyn were entitled to the remaining 50 percent combined.
According to Kevin and Derrick’s filing, nearly four years later, Taylor has still not finished distributing the estate’s assets. Taylor Simone Ledward Boseman has not publicly responded to the petition.
The brothers are asking the court to hold Taylor in contempt, force her to distribute remaining assets and provide a full accounting of the estate within 30 days, permanently remove her as administrator in favor of attorney Jason Rubin, and require her to pay the family’s legal fees.
Prior to his passing in August 2020, Boseman was best known for playing T’Challa/Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with his film Black Panther being the first and so far only MCU movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
His other notable roles included Jackie Robinson in 42 (2013), James Brown in Get on Up (2014), and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall (2017). For his final performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020), Boseman was posthumously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Despite being diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, Boseman never publicly spoke about his illness and still went on to star in films such as Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, 21 Bridges, Da 5 Bloods, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.