CINCINNATI (AP) — The children of a hit country music songwriter won't get control of his estate, a judge ruled, but a bigger battle looms between them and their aunt, an evangelist with a worldwide ministry.
Darrell "Wayne" Perry's four children have sued their aunt Darlene Bishop, saying she hastened her brother's death by promising to use prayer to cure the throat cancer that killed him and discouraging him from receiving medical treatment.
Separately, a judge on Monday rejected their request to remove their aunt as executor of the estate and replace her with one of Perry's sons.
Wayne Perry's songs include Tim McGraw's "Not a Moment Too Soon," Toby Keith's "A Woman's Touch" and Lorrie Morgan's hit "What Part Of No." He died of throat cancer in 2005 at age 55.
Perry's heirs alleged that Bishop took money intended for them, including payment from a $260,000 insurance policy, and refused to disburse Perry's assets to them as he had intended.
Probate Judge Randy Rogers ruled Monday that the children failed to prove their claim, and he found no grounds for removing Bishop, who is co-pastor of the Solid Rock megachurch outside Cincinnati.
He ruled that the insurance policy named Bishop as the sole beneficiary. Perry's children had argued that their father bought the policy intending the money to go to them, but Rogers ruled that the policy was not part of the estate or the trust.