KING FAMILY DRAMA...

I happened to be perusing news stories and I came across this one:

"MLK's children file lawsuit against their brother"

Courtesy of Atlanta Journal Constitution
In the latest public skirmish involving the family of one of Atlanta's favorite sons, Bernice and Martin King III have filed a lawsuit against their brother, accusing him of mishandling funds and hiding documents from them.

At stake are millions of dollars in assets that flow through King Inc., the corporation that oversees the intellectual property rights of Martin Luther King Jr. Dexter King is the president of the corporation. Bernice and Martin III are shareholders.

Dexter King denied the lawsuit's accusations, calling them "inappropriate and false.

"When there are family disputes that involve a business entity, unfortunately, sometimes certain legal steps are taken to resolve the dispute," he said in a written statement. "I'm disappointed that our personal family disagreement, as it relates to the family business, has evolved into being handled in a public legal forum."

Dexter, the third-born of Martin and Coretta King's four children and chairman of the King Center, said he hopes the matter can be swiftly resolved so that the family can "go about the business of focusing on our parents' tremendous legacy."

Funds come into King Inc. from books and promotional sales of King items. The biggest asset is the $32 million that the city of Atlanta, led by Mayor Shirley Franklin, plunked down to purchase the King papers in 2006.

Jock Smith, an attorney representing Bernice and Martin III, said the siblings have been denied "information and documentation concerning the operations, actions and financial affairs" of King Inc.

According to court documents, the siblings say Dexter King, who lives in Malibu, Calif., has "misapplied or wasted" the corporation's funds, using the money for his personal benefit.

They also claim that he has wrongfully taken "substantial funds" out of the estate of Coretta Scott King, which is managed by Bernice, for his own personal use. Dexter has 30 days to respond to the lawsuit.

"He owes Martin and Bernice an accounting of what has happened with all of the money. Where is the money going?" Smith said. "We're trying to get an accounting as to the financing and well-being of the [corporation]. The way to do that is to get records, books and accounting."

Smith said there have been financial distributions from the corporation, but "whether those distributions were what they should have been is the question."

Smith said one of the goals of the lawsuit is to force Dexter King to call a board meeting of King Inc., which includes the siblings and other shareholders.

"The lawsuit alleged that there has been no meeting for several years," said Smith, the national president of the Cochran Firm, based in Alabama. He has filed an application to become the attorney of record. "There needs to be a board meeting called so there can be an accounting to all stockholders. Not only about the money, but the actual corporation itself to make sure that everyone has been treated fairly."

I really hope this is resolved. It's always a sad situation when siblings are divided over money.