Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Widow Said to Be Stretched Thin While Caring for Their 9-Year-Old Daughter Amid Estate Battle With His Mother
More than a year after Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s death, his wife, Tenisha Warner, may finally receive some of the financial relief she says she needs.
Tenisha lost her husband, while their young daughter lost her father after “the Cosby Show” star drowned in Costa Rica.
Now, she faces a legal battle with Malcolm’s mother, Pamela Warner, over his estate.
In the meantime, her longtime friend, Destiny Kael, has swooped in to help save the day. On Aug. 11, she created a GoFundMe to raise $40,000 for Tenisha.
Kael, whose been Tenisha’s friend for 19 years, detailed Tenisha’s hardships in a lengthy post.
She clarified that she made the GoFundMe because she knew her friend would never ask for the support.
“I know that Malcolm is beloved by so many, and his fans are grieving his loss. I can tell you what most people never see,” she wrote, “I have watched Tenisha spend this year grieving the love of her life while honoring the promise they made to each other, to homeschool their nine-year-old daughter.”
To paint the picture, Rael wrote, “Every room holds their memories, with no space to truly mourn, because the demands have never paused.”
Even in a recent “CBS Mornings” interview, Tenisha explained why she couldn’t leave the house.
“I don’t think of moving, because all of memories are here. It hurts. I can’t be in my own home without feeling the loss, but I can’t walk away,” she said.
Rael said in the post that “[Tenisha] has stretched every resource she has and borrowed from people who love her just to keep one foot in front of the other.”
Rael also addressed the public assumption that Malcolm would have left behind money for his wife and daughter.
“That was his intention,” she wrote, “Malcolm had worked with his attorneys to update his estate plan to provide for his wife and daughter, but he passed away before he could sign it. They thought they had time.”
Rael explained that for most of their marriage, Tenisha had stopped working as a psychologist. She insisted that the decision was made as a couple together.
“But it means that today, without his income and without access to what he intended to provide for them, she does not have the financial cushion people might assume,” she continued.
“As a single mom now, Tenisha carries the cost of resolving Malcolm’s estate alone because asking for help does not come naturally to her.”
Rael also pleaded for grace amid the current estate battle between Tenisha and Malcolm’s mom.
“I am not asking anyone to take sides in a family matter that was never meant to be public. I am asking you to stand with a grieving wife and mother, and her young daughter, so they don’t lose what Malcolm always intended to provide for them.”
On the one-year anniversary of Malcolm’s death, Tenisha sued over a $1 million life insurance policy. She claims they had a premarital agreement naming her as the sole beneficiary.
Malcolm never secured the policy before his death. Now, she is seeking that money from the Warner Family Trust, plus roughly $200,000 in other payments she says he owed her.
The actor’s mother is the trustee of his Warner Family Trust, which he started in 1996. Tenisha believes Malcolm’s estate cannot cover the roughly $1.2 million she seeks, so she wants the trust to pay it.
Readers offered mixed responses in the comments beneath People’s article about the GoFundMe.
One person wrote, “I’m sure he would’ve wanted his daughter to be taken care of. His mother needs to set up a trust for her.”
A second person typed, “I’m sorry but pay for this yourself. I’m sure if you win you will not being paying people back. GoFundMe is getting out of hand. Be an adult and handle your business.”
A third individual typed, “Then he should have made his wife the executor when they got married.”
So far they’ve reached more than $35,000 of their goal. Beyoncé’s father, Mathew Knowles, has given $500. One anonymous donor gave $32,300.
Pamela has explained the Costa Rica vacation was an extension of her granddaughter’s homeschooling and learning how other people live for three weeks. For the final week, Malcolm joined Tenisha and their daughter.
There are a lot of things that have been said that are not true,” she explained on “The Tamron Hall Show,” awful things.”
“What I know is basically Malcolm was not an experienced swimmer. His daughter was probably a better swimmer than he was. She was not in the water. He did not die saving her. He got caught in a rip tide.”
However, she has not responded to Tenisha’s filing nor the GoFundMe.