Dolly's Estate Drops Lawsuit Against Nephew

Dolly Parton’s estate has dropped its lawsuit against Bryan Seaver, her nephew and longtime head of security, according to a court filing Thursday.

The filing voluntarily dismisses the estate’s claims without prejudice, meaning they could be brought again. Lawyers for both sides did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether the dismissal resulted from a settlement. Seaver’s attorneys said in a court filing last week that the sides had been “engaged in good faith discussions in an attempt to resolve this matter.”

She’s Alive LLC, the entity managing Parton’s posthumous affairs under longtime manager Danny Nozell, sued Seaver in September. The estate alleged he had tried to extort money since Parton’s death a month earlier, citing messages that included “I’m a killer” and “all I do is warfare.”

Dolly, Seaver

Seaver denied the allegations. He said Nozell had taken his messages out of context and “turned a private, profane and ultimately friendly exchange between two longtime friends into a claim of terror.” The estate sought an injunction to prevent Seaver from interfering with its business. His financial inheritance was not at issue in the case.

A hearing on the injunction request, delayed several times, had been scheduled to begin Tuesday in Nashville. It has been canceled.

Parton had carefully planned her estate to help avoid disputes of the kind that have roiled the families of other famous artists. But the case showed that even extensive planning cannot guarantee harmony.

“It only takes one to upset the apple cart,” estate attorney Scott Rahn told Billboard when the lawsuit was filed. Rahn said the estate’s swift court action showed Parton had put the right people in place to manage her affairs.

“You cannot plan for every possible eventuality,” Rahn said. “Your documents would fill libraries talking about every single thing. At the end of the day, what you need to do, which is I think what Dolly did, is pick a capable team for managing your affairs. And that’s what’s happening here.”