He Had A Dream, But Not A Will

Martin Luther King Jr. died without a will and his heirs have fought numerous times over handling his estate. The heirs eventually formed a corporation to manage the estate and they reached a settlement regarding the management of that corporation. This settlement was not the end of the battles though.

The most recent fight is over transcripts of some of King’s speeches, statements and newsletters he wrote, and other writings relating to his work in the civil rights movement. The corporation found out that Howard Nelson Ballou, a television anchor from Southern Mississippi, came into possession of these documents.

Ballou’s mother Maude was King’s personal secretary in the 1950s, and his father was King’s fraternity brother. Maude is now 86 years old and has signed a sworn statement that said she always considered the documents to belong to her personally. King delivered each document to her saying, “'[H]ere, Maude, this is for you.’” Ballou’s father kept these documents at the University where he worked and when the University found them in 2007, they gave them to Howard.

The corporation is suing Howard claiming that King never intended these documents to be gifts to Maude – that he only intended for her to hold on to them as an employee. Howard is trying to get the lawsuit dismissed based on the sworn statement of his mother. The corporation argues against that because lawyers have not even had the chance to speak to Maude in depostitions. The Judge still has yet to rule on the dismissal, but if King had a will, this dispute may never have existed.

Danielle & Andy Mayoras, Another Lawsuit Brewing Because Martin Luther King, Jr. Died Without a Will, Financial Planning Magazine, Dec. 14, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) for bringing this article to my attention.