James Brown, the Godfather of Soul Music passed away Christmas Day 2006 due to heart failure. Brown's multimillion dollar estate was divvied up by Attorney General McMaster disregarding Brown's wishes he had stated in his Will:

“Attorney General Henry McMaster brokered a settlement in 2009 that split Brown's estate, giving nearly half to a charitable trust, a quarter to his widow, Tomi Rae Hynie, and leaving the rest to be split among his adult children. But the justices ruled that the deal ignored Brown's wishes for most of his money to go to charity. The court also ruled the Godfather of Soul was of sound mind when he made his will. . . . ‘The compromise orchestrated by the AG in this case destroys the estate plan Brown had established in favor of an arrangement overseen virtually exclusively by the AG,' giving large sums of money to relatives even though they were given little or no control in the singer's original will, Associate Justice John Kittredge wrote.”

The South Carolina Supreme Court overruled the settlement and reinstated Brown's original Will. James Brown felt strongly for the cause of education and wanted the majority of his estate to be donated to educating children of misfortune.