We've been talking about the probate dispute between the daughters of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz. When Shabazz died in 1997, no will was found. Two daughters, Ilyasah and Malaak, were named administrators. One daughter, Malikah, has contested their handling of the estate. This has been going on for 14 years. Their parents' writings cannot be published without the approval of all six of the daughters.

It seems the depth of the dispute became public in 2002. Her sisters accused Malikah of taking some of Malcolm X's unpublished works to Florida, without the permission of the estate. The sisters said she had left them in storage, and, when she didn't pay her bill, the contents were seized. The writings showed up at an auction house in San Francisco. The estate paid $300,000 to recover them.

The lawyer who represented Ilyasah and Malaak at the time petitioned the court, questioning Malikah's mental capacity and asserting that her actions had cost the estate potential licensing deals. In 2007, the court appointed a guardian ad litem for Malikah.

The guardian looked into her client's complaints about the estate and, in 2009, issued a report that cited a number of examples of the administrators' mismanagement of the estate and misappropriation of assets. Ilyasah and Malaak had advanced shares of the inheritance to their sisters, the report said. They had prepaid themselves commissions against the advice of their own lawyers. And they had let the tax bill mount.

The tax bill now exceeds the value of the estate's tangible assets. Penalties and interest accumulated over the years to bring the total owed to more than $2 million.

An accounting was finally produced two years after Malikah requested one. It took a court order to get it. The administrators have filed at least four revisions. The parties disagree that an inventory of Shabazz's belongings took place after her death, adding fuel to the argument over the accounting.

The current attorney for Ilyasah and Malaak says that a "final accounting" will be produced in the next few months, along with "proof of every transaction over the life of the estate." He believes the information will be enough to satisfy Malikah's concerns, and that the publishing deals can move forward.

Malikah told the court last year that she did not "plan to at any time participate in any so-called settlements, or negotiations."

Source: New York Times, "Malcolm X Trove Hidden During Feud," 02/08/11