13 Jul “COSBY SHOW” KID’S WIDOW SUES MOM AND ESTATE CITING POST-NUPTIAL AGREEMENT
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who played the role of Theodore Huxtable on “The Cosby Show”, died July 20, 2025 in a drowning accident. He had not updated any of his estate planning documents since 1996 when he established the Warner Family Trust (the “Trust”) which left 70% of his estate to his mother, Pamela Warner, 15% to his father, Robert Warner, Jr. (who predeceased him) and 15% to his half-sister, Collage.
Subsequently, Warner got married and had a child, MacKenzie, now 9 years old. His widow, Tenisha, and daughter survived him. Tenisha has now sued Warner’s mother as trustee of the Trust under the terms of a postnuptial agreement that Warner and Tenisha signed in 2022. Pursuant to the terms of the postnuptial agreement, Warner was to maintain life term life insurance policies with a face value of $1,000,000 on both himself and Tenisha. He was also required to pay her $16,000 for each marriage anniversary (over $150,000) from the date of the postnuptial agreement. He was also required to pay her a monthly salary of $5,000 and to fund a ROTH IRA (over $30,000) for her. Warner failed to comply with these terms. Tenisha also states that they were close to making a new estate plan, but it was never completed. Now Tenisha has filed a suit for at least $1.2 million against Warner’s mom as Trustee of the trust to collect pursuant to the postnuptial agreement.
Whether or not Tenisha will be successful depends on the terms of the postnuptial agreement. Intent to do new estate planning documents is generally inadequate. The postnuptial agreement must include language that specifies whether or not the spouse has a right to inheritance. It is possible that a postnuptial agreement might define how assets are distributed if the marriage ends in one spouse’s death. Proper planning should have included estate planning being done at the time of the postnuptial agreement for a cohesive plan. It will be up to the court to decide whether the postnuptial agreement is sufficient for a breach of contract claim against Warner’s Trust. A hearing is set for early October.
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