Eazy-E's Posthumous Child Support
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Post by me, November 18, 1999

November 20, 1996 IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mike Botula 323-889-2974
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--COMMERCE-- Rap music star Eric "Eazy-E" Wright left an addition to life’s two inevitabilities as part of his legacy. Along with death and taxes, there is child support, thanks to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.

After Wright died last March 26 of complications from AIDS the trust he set up to manage his estate quickly became the target of numerous challenges in the Los Angeles Superior Court’s probate department (Estate of Eric Wright, BP034092). One dispute centered on the ownership of Ruthless Records, the company that Wright founded. Other challenges were initiated by seven women, who are the mothers of eight children that Wright had acknowledged as being his. (One of the women was pregnant at the time of his death and was claiming him as the father).

The District Attorney’s Bureau of Family Support Operations had four child support cases involving Wright as the non-custodial parent at the time of his death, but payments stopped when he died. One of the cases was an interstate case with the mother living in Nebraska. At the time of Wright’s death an appeal was pending over the amount of the support award obtained by Deputy District Attorney Ruth Roth on behalf of the custodial parent in Nebraska.

The scenario posed some interesting challenges for the Bureau of Family Support Operations since it rarely becomes involved in probate cases. The matter was further complicated by the fact that the individual child support cases were scattered among several offices of the Bureau of Family Support Operations. It was decided to consolidate them in one location with Deputy District Attorney Nancy Ruffolo as the point person.

Deputy District Attorney Andrea Schrote, who was in charge of the interstate (URESA) division at the time that case was tried, coordinated consolidation activities.

"Wright ultimately accepted full responsibility for supporting his children," says Family Support Director Wayne Doss (323-889-3400). "Once paternity was legally established and the child support order issued," Doss continued, "he paid his child support regularly."

When Wright and the child support payments stopped, the District Attorney’s office filed claims for whatever arrears existed and also petitioned the court for family allowances for the ongoing support of the children.

Last month, after the probate court had ruled on the validity of Mr. Wright’s will, Chemical Trust of California, the Special Administrator of Wright’s estate sent checks totaling $163,369 to the Court Trustee on behalf of six of the rap star’s children. Future monthly payments to the children will amount to about $9,200.

The outcome is especially gratifying for the staff of the Bureau of Family Support Operations because their efforts resulted in significant benefits to the children of "Eazy-E."