A Delaware judge has ruled that Faith Evans must release more than $12.5 million in Biggie estate earnings to a trust established by the late rapper’s mother, Voletta Wallace, with interest expected to bring the total close to $14 million.
According to Billboard, the October 27, 2026, decision marks a major victory for Wayne Barrow, The Notorious B.I.G.’s former manager and the trustee responsible for overseeing Voletta’s estate. The legal dispute began after Evans challenged whether the trust had properly obtained the rights to receive money generated by the late rapper’s intellectual property.
According to the Delaware Court of Chancery, the trust is entitled to $12,518,336 in previously withheld distributions, along with additional interest. Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick determined that those financial rights became effective when Voletta died on February 21, 2025, even though the trust was not formally admitted as a member of the company until months later.
At the center of the Biggie estate dispute is Notorious B.I.G., LLC, a company Evans and Voletta formed in 2007 to manage the rapper’s intellectual property, including valuable music and other commercial rights.
Under a revised operating agreement signed in March 2023, Evans and Voletta each held 50% of the company’s membership interests. Both women also assigned portions of their distribution rights to Biggie’s children, T’yanna Wallace and Christopher Jordan Wallace, better known as CJ. As a result, all four were entitled to 25% of the company’s financial distributions.
Following Voletta’s death, Evans became the company’s sole manager. Barrow, who was appointed sole trustee and executor through changes to Voletta’s estate documents, sought recognition of the trust’s rights to her share of the business.
The financial disagreement surfaced amid a lucrative agreement involving music publishing company Primary Wave. In March 2025, Primary Wave confirmed that it had acquired a significant interest in Biggie’s catalog and related rights. Reports valued the legendary rapper’s estate at more than $200 million, although the final purchase price was not publicly disclosed.
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Voletta had reportedly been involved in negotiating the agreement before her death. The deal included interests in Biggie’s music publishing, recordings, and rights connected to his name, image, and likeness.
The Biggie estate lawsuit intensified in July 2025 when Barrow sued Evans after she declined to recognize the trust as a company member. Evans maintained that the necessary legal requirements had not been satisfied.
In August 2026, McCormick sided with Barrow, determining that the trust qualified to become a member under the company’s operating agreement. However, another question remained unresolved: When did the trust become eligible to receive the money?
Although the necessary paperwork was completed on December 12, 2025, the judge ruled that Voletta’s financial interest had already passed through her estate following her death.
“All economic rights associated with Ms. Wallace’s member interest in the LLC transferred to her estate upon her death on February 21, 2025,” the judge wrote. “The Trust, as the ultimate beneficiary, is entitled to distributions accrued as of the date of Ms. Wallace’s death.”
Court records show that the company argued the trust should receive just $48,612, representing distributions associated with the period after its formal admission. The judge rejected that position and concluded that the trust was entitled to the full $12.5 million.
The Biggie estate ruling also awards interest calculated from when the distributions became payable, compounded quarterly. Barrow’s attorney, Jay Freiberg, told Billboard that the total amount owed would approach $14 million.
“We are pleased with the latest order from the Chancellor,” Freiberg said. It continues the Chancellor’s decisions recognizing Faith Evans’ misbehavior regarding Notorious Big LLC after the death of Mama Wallace.
Freiberg also expressed hope that the ruling would bring an end to Evans’ opposition to the trust’s financial rights.
“Hopefully she will [pay] and, equally important, stop fighting the inevitable result properly planned by Mama Wallace — that the trust is a co-equal member of the LLC with Ms. Evans, and entitled to all that comes with this status,” he added.
Those statements reflect Freiberg’s position in the litigation. Evans’ attorney declined to comment on the latest ruling when contacted by Billboard on October 29.
Meanwhile, a separate legal fight involving CJ Wallace remains active in Pennsylvania.
CJ is challenging changes made to his grandmother’s estate arrangements shortly before her death. Under documents executed in 2020, CJ, longtime family friend Carol Sampson, and Barrow were originally named to serve in estate administration roles.
However, on February 6, 2025, Voletta signed amendments removing CJ and Sampson from those roles, leaving Barrow as sole trustee and executor. She died 15 days later.
CJ alleges that Barrow improperly influenced his grandmother into making those changes. Barrow denies the allegations and has accused Evans of being involved in the challenge. Evans’ legal representatives have denied that accusation.
The Pennsylvania litigation has not established that Voletta was improperly influenced. The Delaware court also determined that the separate challenge did not prevent the trust from receiving the financial distributions owed to it.
Under Voletta’s amended estate arrangements, assets not otherwise specifically designated are directed toward the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation, preserving an intended charitable component of her son’s legacy.
For decades, Voletta played a central role in protecting Biggie’s music and business interests following his killing in Los Angeles in March 1997. Her work helped transform his catalog into an enduring entertainment business, extending his influence far beyond the two studio albums released during his lifetime.
