Watch: Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Mom Shares Insight Into Final Days Before His Death
Malcolm-Jamal Warner‘s loved ones are caught up in a legal battle one year after his death.
The Cosby Show alum’s widow Tenisha Warner is suing his mom Pamela Warner in a $1.2 million lawsuit, alleging that Malcolm failed to follow through on several matters stipulated in their premarital agreement before his 2025 death.
Tenisha “believes that Malcolm did not purchase or maintain any life insurance policy on his life” naming her as the sole beneficiary, which the actor had promised to do in a prenup prior to their 2017 wedding, according to court documents filed on July 17 and obtained by E!.
The 48-year-old also alleges that Malcolm—who drowned last July while vacationing in Costa Rica—did not fulfill his obligations of paying her monthly salary as his chief of staff, funding a Roth IRA for her or provide a tax-free sum of $16,000 on each anniversary of their marriage as stated in their prenup.
Moreover, Tenisha said in her filing that she and the couple’s 9-year-old daughter MacKenzie have no access to the Warner Family Trust—a trust that Malcolm had set up in 1996—that is currently being managed by his mom Pamela.
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According to Tenisha’s lawsuit, Pamela “intends to keep Malcolm’s 1996 Trust assets to the detriment of his minor child and widow.”
“To make matters worse, Pamela is the trustee of Malcolm’s 1996 Trust and has used that position of power to sell Malcolm, Tenisha, and MacKenzie’s first family home in Studio City, California,” the lawsuit alleges. “Tenisha tried to preserve the home, but Pamela listed it for sale over Tenisha’s objection and accepted the first offer she could without any notice to the family.”
E! has reached out to Pamela’s attorney for comment but hasn’t heard back.
Tenisha is now seeking what she believes are unpaid obligations under her prenup with Malcolm, as well as attorney’s fees and a court order preventing Pamela from distributing any money or property within the Warner Family Trust amid their court case.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner/Instagram
“Malcolm had every intention to provide for our 9-year-old daughter and me,” Tenisha told E! in a July 21 statement. “He was close to finalizing a new estate plan to replace the stale plan created in 1996 when he was 26 years old, 20 years before we met and well before we gave birth to our beautiful daughter.”
But, as she put it, “Sadly, he was unable to do so before we lost him.”
“I have been struggling to care for our daughter as a single mom and now as her sole provider,” she continued. “Legally, I had no choice but to take action to protect our rights before any potential statute of limitations expired.”
For a closer look at Malcolm’s life in photos, read on.
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Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD aTVfest 2020
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