Gil Scott-Heron passed away on May 27th, 2011. Since his untimely death, the estate has been mired in controversy. The biggest source of contention has been paternity, and the absence of a Will and Testament. Although Gil Scott-Heron's DNA was collected at the time of his passing, none of the heirs were required to submit to DNA testing. One child, Gia Scott-Heron voluntarily agreed to submit her DNA even after the judge rescinded the order for all proposed heirs to perform DNA analysis. Another, Rumal Rackley had a DNA test performed privately with a relative of the deceased. He then not only failed the test, but he then failed to report these findings to the New York Surrogate Courts, and continued to assert that he was a child of the deceased. He has since been named the permanent administrator of the estate. 

In the state of New York, there is legal precedent stipulating that if an individual can provide ample evidence that the deceased openly and notoriously acknowledged that individual as their child, then they can be legally declared an heir to the estate. There are many ways that "open and notorious acknowledgement" can be established. A person could submit letters, emails, text messages or other correspondence from the deceased where they express this relationship to the individual in writing, or witnesses can testify that they were introduced to to the individual as a child of the deceased etc.

Gia Scott-Heron has proven paternity many times over. Her father Gil was married to her mother Brenda Sykes at the time of her birth, and were also sharing a residence at the time. His name appears on her birth certificate, and as stated before, she submitted to DNA testing voluntarily and passed. 

There are many who would like to know definitively, who Gil Scott-Heron's true heirs are. There are 4 who claim to be his children, but only one has proven this not only beyond a reasonable doubt, but beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The New York Surrogate Courts have demonstrated that they are not interested in truly establishing paternity. When they were notified that the results of the DNA test performed by Rumal Rackley showed that he was not related to the deceased, the judge ruled it inadmissible. The same judge then ruled that Mr. Rackley be the permanent administrator of the estate, despite his duplicity. Mr. Rackley claimed that Gil Scott-Heron charged him with the responsibility to "take care of his sisters".  In the nearly 8 years that he has been administrator, he has not shared any assets belonging to the estate, nor has he provided any financial accounting, despite many requests for him to do so dating back to 2014.

Gia Scott-Heron is still fighting to rescue her father's estate from a man who has shown that he is not only not the son of Gil Scott-Heron, but she is alleging that he has no interest in taking care of anyone but himself. "He began a series of lawsuits," says Gia "He made a ton of accusations and spent about half a million dollars in attorneys fees to sue me and my maternal family members, and lost!"

What do you think? Should Rumal Rackley be removed as the administrator? Should the other purported heirs submit to DNA testing? Please sign the petition if you agree that something needs to be done to resolve this miscarriage of justice. Please help Him Scott-Heron's daughter Gia save the estate!