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Nate Dogg's Son Fighting Late Rapper's Widow Over Estate | In Touch Weekly

Published 3 weeks ago4 minute read

Nate Dogg’s oldest son asked a court to shut down the late rapper’s widow, , recent plea in court, In Touch can exclusively report.

According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Naijiel D. Hale, one of Nate’s nine children, said he was not on the same page with LaToya when it came to selling Nate’s music rights.

Recently, Alex Borden, the administrator appointed to handle Nate’s estate submitted his final accounting report. He said he resolved all debts and was ready for the beneficiaries to be paid out.

Nate died on March 15, 2011, at the age of 41.

LaToya was married to Nate but they were reportedly estranged when he died. LaToya and his children are the beneficiaries of the estate.

As In Touch first reported, LaToya asked that the court postpone closing the probate to explore whether the beneficiaries “could agree to a common mechanism for managing the primary asset left in the estate: [Nate’s] music rights.”

Nate Dogg

Johnny Nunez/WireImage

LaToya said the music rights could be worth upwards of $4 million. She proposed a music manager named Brian Shafton taking over as administrator of the estate. She said Brian would be able to help with the music rights and “various options and issues being considered and navigated.”

The current administrator told LaToya and her lawyer he had no issue stepping down and being replaced by Brian as long as “all the heirs are on board with the same.”

LaToya claimed her legal team spoke to the guardian for Nate’s child, Sianna Hale.

She said the guardian did not want to make a decision on the music rights. The guardian said Sianna could make her own decision when she turns 18 this year.

LaToya’s lawyer said the guardian thought Sianna “might be open to selling her interest in the estate if such an opportunity presented itself.”

In addition, LaToya said she spoke to Naijiel’s legal team who they said their client was unsure about Brian taking over as administrator in the probate case. LaToya said she planned to file an official petition in the near future. Now, Naijiel asked that the court not postpone the estate being closed.

His lawyer said, “As shown on the Inventory and Appraisal, the Estate consists largely of illiquid rights to the Decedent’s music copyrights, which generate royalty income. This royalty income pays for many of the expenses of the Estate, with the remainder accumulating in the Estate for distribution to the beneficiaries.”

Nate Dogg

Chris Walter/WireImage

His lawyer explained, “The Estate has provided a de facto common management mechanism for these music rights since the Decedent’s passing in 2011. While the beneficiaries appear to agree in principle that distributing the Music Rights in a piecemeal fashion pro rata to each beneficiary does not allow them to maximize the value of the Music Rights, there is a disagreement over what that common management structure should entail.”

Naijiel said he has proposed that each heir’s interest in the music rights be assigned to an LLC managed by a professional with experience in the music industry.

He said he believes his proposal has broad support amongst beneficiaries.

His lawyer said, “In particular, the following beneficiaries in the Music Rights have indicated they are amenable to this proposal in principle: Nathaniel D. Hale, Whitney Bruce, Debra Harris, Milana Marie Hale, Sianna R. Lind (through her guardian), and Naijiel D. Hale.”

“LaToya Calvin and [another party] have not agreed to this proposal. In other words, most of the beneficiaries have a plan for prudent management after the estate closes,” his lawyer added.

Naijiel’s lawyer said his client did not want the probate case to drag on any longer.

He wrote, “Naijiel does not agree to the proposal, as it would only serve to prolong the long overdue closure of this matter. This Estate has been open for over 11 years. Continued Court oversight is not in the beneficiaries’ interest, nor is it the role of the Court to administer the royalties from the Music Rights indefinitely.”

The court has yet to rule.

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