Widow of Malcolm-Jamal Warner Files Lawsuit Over 1996 Trust
Tenisha Warner has sued her late husband's mother, alleging that a 1996 family trust leaves most of the actor's estate to his mother and excludes provisions for Warner and their daughter.
Tenisha Warner, the widow of actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, filed a petition in court seeking to overturn a 1996 family trust that allocates 70% of the late actor's assets to his mother, Pamela Warner, with the remaining shares divided between his late father and half-sister. Warner, who died in a drowning accident on July 20, 2025, left a nine-year-old daughter, MacKenzie, and a surviving spouse.
In a statement to the media, Warner said the trust was created when her husband was 26, long before they met, and does not reflect his intention to provide for their daughter and herself. She added that Warner had been close to finalizing a new estate plan before his death.
The petition also references a 2022 premarital agreement that required Warner to maintain $1 million life-insurance policies for both spouses, make annual anniversary payments of $16,000, fund a Roth IRA for Tenisha Warner, and pay her a monthly salary of $5,000 for 39 months.
Warner alleges that Pamela Warner, as trustee, sold the family’s Studio City home despite Warner’s objections. The mother has not commented on the lawsuit, though she posted a tribute on Instagram on the first anniversary of her son’s death.
"All of which I have been the recipient of. The good, the bad and the ugly. These are the lessons that apparently I will need as I continue my journey," Pamela Warner wrote in her Instagram post.
The case highlights a dispute over the applicability of an older revocable trust versus more recent agreements intended to secure the financial future of Warner’s immediate family.