Taylor Simone Ledward is at the center of a July 17 California petition filed by Chadwick Boseman’s parents, who want her removed as administrator of his estate. The filing turns a private inheritance fight into a legal test over roughly $3.8 million in assets, plus control tied to Chadwick Boseman Inc.
The petition says she “has still not distributed the estate, nor has she filed a petition for discharge,” and asks a court to hold her in contempt, bar unilateral control over estate property, remove her as administrator, and require a full accounting for every transaction since 2020. Carolyn’s $40,000 insurance policy, referenced in a 2022 court order, is also said to remain undelivered.
California court filing on July 17
July 17 is the date that matters now, because that is when Leroy and Carolyn moved in California state court on behalf of their family. The petition says the estate includes cash, retirement accounts, a long-term care insurance policy, and Chadwick Boseman Inc., the company described as holding rights connected to Chadwick Boseman’s name and intellectual property.
Under California law, the estate was divided equally between Taylor Simone Ledward and his parents after Chadwick Boseman died in August 2020 without a will. That split is why the filing goes beyond money in an account: it reaches the machinery that controls assets and licensing tied to his name.
Chadwick Boseman Inc. ownership split
The petition says Simone Ledward Boseman and Chadwick Boseman’s parents each own 50 percent of Chadwick Boseman Inc., yet it also says she has exercised “complete control” and shut the family out of decisions involving assets they also own. That is the core conflict in the filing: equal ownership on paper, unilateral control in practice.
The same filing says she appointed herself CEO without holding board meetings and entered into contracts assigning Chadwick Boseman’s rights and prior works, including a deal with Words + Pictures Productions for a documentary about his life. Another agreement concerns production of Deep Azure, which Chadwick Boseman wrote.
Leroy and Carolyn’s dispute
The family’s filing says the imbalance has already produced real losses. It claims they are blocked from pursuing business opportunities that might benefit Leroy and Carolyn, and it says Carolyn’s $40,000 insurance policy under a 2022 court order was never distributed.
That is why the next step is a court ruling on whether the petition’s requests for contempt, an injunction, removal as administrator, and a full accounting will stick. If the judge accepts the family’s account, Simone Ledward Boseman loses day-to-day control; if not, the estate fight stays in the same hands that have run it since 2020.
