Widow Sues Actor’s Mother Over Alleged Failure to Honor Prenuptial Agreement

Tenisha Warner filed a lawsuit in DeKalb County Superior Court against Pamela Warner, the successor trustee of the Warner Family Trust, seeking at least $1.2 million she says is owed under the couple’s 2022 prenuptial agreement. The complaint alleges that Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who drowned on July 20, 2025 while vacationing in Costa Rica, did not purchase a $1 million term life insurance policy, failed to make $16,000 annual anniversary payments, did not fund a Roth IRA for his wife, and did not pay a promised $5,000-per-month salary for acting as her chief of staff. The suit totals the unpaid obligations at $1,276,042.46, plus interest and attorney’s fees.

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Warner and Tenisha married on May 23, 2022 and signed a prenuptial agreement on May 15 of that year. In 1996 Warner established the Warner Family Trust, which Pamela Warner now administers as successor trustee. The trust was intended to manage the actor’s assets, but the complaint asserts that the trust has not distributed the amounts required by the prenuptial agreement.

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The lawsuit lists specific financial shortfalls:

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• A $1 million term life insurance policy that Warner agreed to purchase but never did.

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• Annual anniversary payments of $16,000, which would have accrued to $50,542.46 by the filing date.

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• A Roth Individual Retirement Account that was never funded at the maximum contribution level.

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• A $5,000 monthly salary for Tenisha’s role as chief of staff, amounting to $195,000.

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Together, these items comprise the $1,276,042.46 figure cited in the complaint.

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Tenisha Warner, through her attorney, said she attempted to settle Warner’s estate privately for a year and that legal action was necessary to protect her rights before any statute of limitations expired. Pamela Warner has not responded to CNN’s request for comment. In a separate Instagram post on July 20, 2026, Warner’s mother expressed grief over her son’s death but did not address the lawsuit.

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• May 15, 2022 – Prenuptial agreement signed.

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• May 23, 2022 – Warner and Tenisha married.

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• July 20, 2025 – Warner drowned in Costa Rica.

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• July 20, 2026 – Tenisha filed the lawsuit on the one-year anniversary of Warner’s death; Warner’s mother posted a memorial message.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution