A new legal battle surrounding The Notorious B.I.G.’s legacy has emerged, and this time the dispute involves the final wishes of the woman who spent nearly 30 years protecting it. Christopher “CJ” Wallace Jr., Biggie’s son with Faith Evans, is challenging changes made to his grandmother Voletta Wallace‘s estate plan shortly before her death, alleging that he and his half-sister T’yanna Wallace were removed from significant portions of her inheritance plan just 15 days before she passed away.
Voletta died from natural causes while receiving hospice care at her Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, home on Feb. 21, 2025. She was 78. Following the 1997 murder of her only child, Christopher Wallace, Voletta became one of the principal guardians of Biggie’s music, intellectual property, and overall legacy.
According to reports describing CJ’s court filing, Voletta established an estate plan in 2020 that would have left her grandchildren much of her personal property, including jewelry, furs, Biggie-related awards, a Mercedes-Benz SUV, and property in Jamaica. CJ alleges that everything changed during the final weeks of his grandmother’s life. He claims documents executed 15 days before Voletta’s death removed the grandchildren from important roles and placed longtime Biggie associate and former manager Wayne Barrow in control as executor. CJ is asking the Pennsylvania court to invalidate the changes and remove Barrow.
CJ is also questioning whether his grandmother was physically capable of knowingly making such substantial changes at that point in her life. His filing reportedly alleges Voletta’s health had severely declined and challenges the authenticity of signatures on the disputed documents, describing them as “facially inconsistent.” Those assertions remain allegations, and the Pennsylvania court has not ruled that the documents are invalid.
There is, however, an important distinction between the inheritance dispute and ownership of Biggie’s business interests. Court records show Voletta and Faith Evans formed Notorious B.I.G., LLC to manage Biggie’s intellectual property. Under a 2023 operating agreement, Voletta and Evans each owned 50 percent of the company’s membership units but assigned portions of their distributions to CJ and T’yanna. As a result, Voletta, Faith, CJ, and T’yanna were each entitled to 25 percent of company distributions.
The dispute has already spilled into multiple courts. An Aug. 7 Delaware Court of Chancery ruling confirms that CJ filed a Pennsylvania petition challenging his removal as a trustee of Voletta’s trust. The Delaware proceeding separately concerns Barrow’s authority as trustee and the trust’s membership rights in Notorious B.I.G., LLC. That makes the headline slightly more complicated than simply saying Biggie’s children were “cut out of the will.” CJ is alleging they were removed from significant inheritance provisions and that he was removed from a key trustee role, while separate rights involving distributions from Biggie’s company remain part of the larger estate structure.
The family dispute carries additional weight because Voletta spent the decades following Biggie’s murder fiercely protecting what her son left behind. She helped preserve his catalog, participated in projects documenting his life, and repeatedly spoke about ensuring that Christopher’s children benefited from the empire their father created. Now, nearly 30 years after Biggie’s death, the next chapter surrounding his legacy isn’t taking place on a record. It’s unfolding in court, where CJ Wallace is asking a judge to determine exactly what his grandmother intended during the final days of her life.
