Estate of Denial:  “The Ray Charles Foundation seeks as much as $3.5 million from seven of the late singer’s 12 children, whom the foundation claims, in Federal Court, were unhappy with their inheritance and wrongly terminated the transfer of copyrights to dozens of Charles’ songs to the foundation.

Ray Charles’s legacy and estate has been the subject of acrimony and litigation almost since the moment the singer died of liver disease in Beverly Hills, in June 2004. The string of lawsuits that followed revolved around the rights to – and proceeds generated by – recordings, photos and film images of the star.

According to the latest lawsuit, from lead plaintiff Raenee Robinson, Ray Charles gathered most of his 12 children — including five of the seven defendants (two were then incarcerated) – in Los Angeles in December 2002 to tell them what he intended to provide for them upon his death.”