The paternal half-sister of rhythm and blues singer Natalie Cole’s late only child was appointed the administrator of her sibling’s estate Friday after a competing petition by his former accountant was abandoned.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lesley Green approved the petition filed Sept. 27 by Brandie Yancy, who lives near Chicago. She maintained she had priority, under the state Probate Code, to administer Robert Adam Yancy’s estate over Howard Grossman.
Brandie and Robert Yancy had the same father, but different mothers.
Robert Yancy died Aug. 14 at age 39 and had about $500,000 in assets, according to the two petitions. His body was found in his Sherman Oaks apartment by a friend who stopped by to check on him after not hearing from him for several days.
Grossman was also the longtime business manager for Cole. He filed his petition to be the administrator of Robert Yancy on Aug. 31, then withdrew it on Wednesday without explanation. The singer’s son was the primary beneficiary of the estate of his mother, who died in 2015.
Robert Yancy’s father was the first of Cole’s three husbands. He died of a heart attack at age 34 in 1985, when Yancy was 7 years old.
Yancy’s grandfather, singer Nat King Cole, died of cancer in 1965 at age 45.