Simone Ledward, widow of the late actor Chadwick Boseman, is contesting efforts by Boseman’s brothers to remove her as administrator of his estate. Legal filings submitted Thursday in Los Angeles detail a dispute sparked by a July lawsuit in which Boseman’s older brothers, Derrick and Kevin, accused Ledward of failing to properly distribute the estate as ordered by the court in 2022.

The brothers initiated the lawsuit on behalf of their parents, Leroy and Carolyn Boseman. They contend that Ledward has not fulfilled the court’s directives regarding the division of assets following Boseman’s death in 2020 at age 43. However, Ledward’s response, filed through her attorney Adam Streisand, strongly rejects these claims, describing them as a “public-relations stunt to smear” her reputation.

According to Streisand, Ledward has complied fully with the court order and has gone beyond her legal obligations by contributing financially to her late husband’s family. He states that Ledward voluntarily gifted more than $300,000 from her own funds to the children of Derrick Boseman. The filing indicates that Ledward has distributed all of Boseman’s estate assets, except for an account reportedly blocked by the brothers themselves.

Boseman died intestate, meaning without a will, leading to a division of his estate in which Ledward received half and each of his parents received 25%. The documents cite specific distributions including transfers of $151,558 and $241,181 from two bank accounts, 100 shares of Chadwick Boseman Inc. valued at approximately $3.4 million, and even unclaimed property valued at 88 cents.

Streisand criticized the lawsuit as a “baseless attack” by the actor’s brothers, whom he identifies as not being legal heirs, acting under the influence of their “ailing parents,” who are rightful heirs alongside Ledward. He argues that the brothers’ demands should be rejected and that the legal action has caused unwarranted harm to both Ledward’s standing and the late actor’s legacy.

Efforts to obtain comment from legal representatives for Derrick and Kevin Boseman were not successful by the time of publication. The court dispute highlights ongoing tensions within the Boseman family over the management and distribution of the actor’s estate more than six years after his passing.