Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Problem Alleged in Billy Preston Bankruptcy

(CN) - Soul musician Billy Preston did not authorize a bankruptcy petition on his behalf, according to a mandamus petition filed in the 9th Circuit.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana, Calif., made a "flagrant error" when it determined that Preston had authorized a bankruptcy petition on his behalf, Joyce Moore told the 9th Circuit.

Moore said she was Preston's personal manager for several years. She said she had a platonic relationship with the singer, who considered her his "little sister."

Moore said she had medical power of attorney for Preston in the final months of his life.

Preston died in 2006, and the bankruptcy petition was filed on his behalf in 2005.

According to Moore, the petition was filed by "Richard Perlman, a disbarred attorney" who had testified in a deposition that Preston gave no written or verbal authorization for the filing.

Moore claims Preston was mentally incompetent when the bankruptcy petition was filed. She said Preston was an ineligible debtor whose case was illegally converted into a Chapter 7 proceeding.

"The tragi-comedy has featured Kafkaesque and Orwellian bankruptcy scenes that this court should bring to a close in the name of justice," Moore wrote.

"The Bankruptcy Court failed to appoint a guardian ad litem to protect the interests of the mentally incapacitated non-debtor, William Everett Preston."

Preston played with The Rolling Stones, Mahalia Jackson, Sly & The Family Stone, and played keyboards with The Beatles on "Get Back."

In a separate recent case, Preston's sisters sued an Arizona hospital, alleging wrongful death. Preston died of kidney failure after spending 6 months in a coma.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...