Children of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. back in court, wrangle over inheritance

King children return to court in estate dispute

ATLANTA — The surviving children of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King are back in court, wrangling over their parents’ estates.

The Rev. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III sued their brother, Dexter King, last year to force him to open the books of their father’s estate. The lawsuit claims Dexter King, the estate’s administrator, has refused to provide documents concerning the estate’s operations. A hearing in the case was set Monday morning.

Dexter King also sued his sister, who administers their mother’s estate. He asked a judge to force her to turn over Coretta Scott King’s personal papers, including love letters central to a now-defunct $1.4 million book deal.