Alan Thicke's Widow Says His Sons Are 'Bullying' Her with Lawsuit
Alan Thicke's eldest sons are in a legal battle with his widow, Tanya Callau, over his estate.
In a petition filed last Tuesday, "Blurred Lines" singer Robin Thicke and his older brother, Brennan Thicke, asked the L.A. County Superior Court to uphold the prenuptial agreement their father and Callau signed before their 2005 wedding. According to People, the men say Callau is trying to get around the prenup, calling it invalid.
Before Alan Thicke's unexpected death following a ruptured aorta last December, Brennan and Robin were named co-trustees of his living trust, which was most recently updated in February 2016. At the time, the brothers say, Callau did not raise any issues with the prenup or how the estate was to be divided.
As defined in the trust, Thicke left each of his sons, including Carter, 19, equal shares in "ownership of the Carpinteria, CA ranch that he bought in 1989 and desired to keep in his family forever (the "Ranch"), 75% of his personal effects, and 60% of his remaining estate."
According to the prenup, Thicke left Callau $500,000 from a life insurance policy, 25% of his personal effects, all of the ranch's furnishings, all death benefits from his pensions and multiple union memberships, and 40% of his remaining estate.
Callau is also entitled to continue living at the ranch as long as she maintains the property, pays expenses and agrees to get permission from her late husband's sons before making any major changes, according to court documents.
"Nonetheless, despite Alan's generous benefits and careful planning Tanya demands more," the petition states. "Tanya insists the Prenuptial Agreement that she entered into before marrying Alan is invalid."
"Tanya asserts that there is no chance the 'Prenup' could withstand legal challenge and that she has very significant community rights in the Trust's assets and rights of reimbursement with respect to improvements to the Ranch," attorney Alex Weingarten writes in the petition. "Tanya also claims 'Marvin rights' asserting that she had to forego opportunities to pursue and advance her own career in order to support Alan and be his companion and partner, including raising Carter."
The petition also accused Callau of threatening "to make her claims fodder for 'tabloid publicity' unless the Co-Trustees agreed to participate in a mediation and succumb to her demands."
Callau's attorney, Adam Streisand, fired back in a statement, saying, "Tanya Thicke has never threatened to take private family matters public and she never has."
"It is clear that Alan's sons have chosen this distasteful public smear tactic to bully Tanya, by stirring up the tabloid media, filing a bogus lawsuit and refusing family mediation," Streisand continued.
Brennan and Robin's attorney maintains Callau is motivated by greed: "What's better than some? More," Weingarten told The Los Angeles Times as to what he believed to be Callau's motivation for questioning the validity of the Thicke-Callau prenup.
"We're not going to litigate this in the media," he said. "We're not going to play games. This is too important. We're talking about a man's legacy."
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