Nina Simone's granddaughter blames Kamala Harris for losing singer's estate

[tulipsandroses]

ReAnna Simone Kelly said her family is now living paycheck to paycheck, but failed to mention that Nina Simone only left her mother Lisa Simone Kelly a condo in her will

The granddaughter of iconic jazz singer Nina Simone is breaking her silence and is directing her anger toward Vice President Kamala Harris.

SNIP

Kelly responded in a thread of tweets and aimed her anger at Harris, who served as the California attorney general from 2011 until 2017. She accused Harris of taking the rights to her grandmother’s estate away from her family.

“Nina’s granddaughter here. My family doesn’t run her estate anymore. It was taken away from us & given to white people. Our family name was DRAGGED in the media,” Kelly said. “We get NO royalties, nothing. Wanna hold someone accountable? Ask Kamala Harris why she came for my family #NinaSimone.”

But Kelly failed to mention that her mother, Lisa Simone Kelly, was only left a condo based on her Nina Simone’s will. What’s more, Kelly reached a settlement with the Superior Court of the State of California in a legal proceeding overseen by then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris in which she resigned her role as trustee and administrator of the Estate of Nina Simone and Nina Simone Charitable Trust.
In court documents, it was revealed that in her will, Nina Simone left her daughter a condominium in Los Angeles, but requested that “all residue to be held in trust and used ‘for the musical education of black African children from South Africa, Liberia and Ghana.'”
Lisa Simone Kelly also tried to initiate a French forced heirship claim to Nina Simone’s assets other than the condo, which was rejected in court because French forced heirship law “does not apply to the distribution of the Estate’s assets.”

][link:https://thegrio.com/2021/06/20/nina-simone-estate/?utm_source=spotim&utm_medium=spotim_recirculation|


Such a shame. Children don't always know what their parents have done. Sounds like this young lady is very bitter and may not realize that her mom was doing something underhanded.

Here's a link to court docs

[link:https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/charities/estate-of-nina-simone-settlement.pdf|

Not a probate lawyer but it looks like Ms. Simone intended for the bulk of her estate to go to charity. Seems like her daughter did not respect that.

[marble falls]

1. Why was Nina Simone obligated to leave her daughter anything at all, let alone a condo in LA?

[tulipsandroses]

6. No parent or family member is.

Even if people think they should. Ms. Simone intended for the bulk of her estate to be dispersed for charitable purposes. Its too bad that her daughter did not want to honor that. Maybe that is why her mom only left her a condo. Maybe she thought there were other people more deserving. A condo in LA is nothing to sneeze at by the way. She could have leveraged that for her own financial independence.

As a side note, only one state in the USA has forced heirship- Louisiana. All other states you can "disinherit" your children. Louisiana can't disinherit children under 24 or if they are disabled. Just an interesting side note. Ms. Simone's daughter went to France to try to get forced heirship and lost. Its really sad. Now they want to stir up public sympathy and make VP Harris the villain.

[JI7]

2. Looks like Kamala Harris did the right thing here

[Bucky]

7. I wonder how hands-on the AG would be for this one simple probate case

California, Goddamn.

[JI7]

10. I mean more the dept under her in general and that nothing wrong was done

[hlthe2b]

3. Reminds me of the interfamily fights the children of MLK have had over his MLK Center in Atlanta

his legacy, and memorabilia intended to be displayed there. It has been sad but also adversely affected the ability for many of his writings to be widely disseminated in what would have typically be "fair use for educational purposes."

Sometimes family pain or perceived slights can really become an all-empowering focus and the expressed desires of the decedent ignored. sigh...

Seems to me that Harris was enforcing the wishes of Nina Simone in this case.

[diehardblue]

4. And now, the rest of the story.......accuracy.

https://www.tmz.com/2021/06/22/kamala-harris-nina-simone-estate-daughter-granddaughter-beef-will-trust/

VP Kamala Harris didn't rip Nina Simone's family from her estate, as the late singer's kin claim ... at least according to a business associate of Nina's, who claims Kamala was ensuring Nina's vision for her trust was realized.

Here's the deal ... Nina's daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, and granddaughter, RéAnna Simone Kelly, are ripping Harris -- then-CA Attorney General -- for allegedly icing them out of Nina's estate, but legal docs seem to tell a different story.

[treestar]

5. Can't see what the VP has to do with it

The State AG would represent the state in Civil Suits. How did the State of California get involved in this estate?

[Bucky]

9. Probate courts in Cali, AG's office would defend the will. Still....

Making it about the attorney general is a bit of a stretch. This is only in the news because the AG went on to become VP

[oasis]

8. "Our family name was DRAGGED in the media".

But you came back for more.

[Treefrog]

11. "Given to white people."

Yeah, what part of leaving her money to “black African children” does this idiot not understand?

[Bucky]

12. I imagine she meant the executors of the estate are white

This would definitely a case where representation matters