For The Family
- Tomi was presented publicly to the world as James Brown's wife since 2001, meaning that she could be determined to be a "common-law" wife. This simply means that both partners agreed to think of themselves and present themselves as a married couple, even though the marriage was not "solemnized," that is, authenticated in a public religious ceremont. Moreover, if Tomi believed she was James' legal wife, as her actions would indicate, it would entitle her to the same status whether or not the singer had knowingly committed bigamy.
- The six children named in James' will are entitled to be considered for a portion of the whole estate, not just the personal effects, despite the singer's stated wishes; it has become common practice for courts to consider all offspring as eligible for a portion of their father's estate. This also means that the three illegimate children are equally eligible if a DNA test can prove their lineage. (There are also eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren to consider.)
- Although the trust was a gift from James to the trustees, it also came with responsibility -- the trustees must be proven to manage the assets properly and also pay taxes on them. Any impropriety could cause it to be dissolved, putting the money in the hands of Brown's family.
For The Trustees
- Tomi's marriage to Pakistani immigrant Javed Ahmed could invalidate her "common-law" marriage to Brown, since she has never been able to produce documentation proving the annulment; Brown also publicly broke from Tomi in 2003, going so far as to announce the dissolution of their relationship via a full-page ad in Variety.
- Brown signed the last version of his will a year before his marriage to Tomi, and had established the trust well before that, in 2000, through Albert Dallas. (The Trust handles Brown's music publishing and rights, meaning, the main source of his money, past and present.) The trust had not been amended since the birth of Tomi's son, James (known as James III). In addition, the trust was "irrevocable," which means that all control of said trust and its holdings was given away by James the minute it was created.
