The James Brown will read last week, which excluded longtime companion Tomi Rae Hynie Brown and her son, James II, was drawn up 10 months before the child was born and more than a year before the entertainer married her.

Strom Thurmond Jr., the singer's Aiken probate attorney, said Monday that the will was signed Aug. 1, 2000.

The soul/funk icon married Mrs. Brown, one of his backup singers, in mid-December 2001 in a private ceremony at his Beech Island home. James Brown II, now 5, was born six months earlier, on June 11.

Excluding Mrs. Brown from the reading of the will last Thursday at an informal meeting at the Aiken County Judicial Center has exacerbated an already contentious dispute over Mr. Brown's legacy. He died Dec. 25 at age 73.

Mr. Brown's attorneys contend that Mrs. Brown is not his widow because she was still married to another man when they said their vows. Her 1997 marriage to a Pakistani, Javed Ahmed, was annulled in 2004 on grounds that it was never consummated, that he married her fraudulently to obtain U.S. citizenship and that he didn't have the capacity to marry her because he was married to three or more women under Pakistani law at the time.

Mr. Brown's attorneys contend that Mrs. Brown did not tell him about the earlier marriage before their wedding and that the Browns never renewed their vows after the annulment. His attorneys have also hinted that James II isn't the entertainer's child.

If Mrs. Brown's marriage to the singer is upheld, her attorneys have said, she would be entitled to one-third of his assets, regardless of what the will says. If the will is invalidated, Mrs. Brown would receive 50 percent of his assets, with the remaining half divided equally among his children, attorney Robert Rosen, of Charleston, S.C., said last week.

How much that amounts to is not publicly known. The bulk of his holdings and music empire is in an irrevocable trust separate from the will. The trust agreement was signed the same day as the will, with the beneficiaries listed as Mr. Brown, the Brown Family Education Trust and the James Brown "I Feel Good" Trust.

The trust gives unrestricted legal authority to a group of trustees to oversee his legacy, music rights, persona and 60-acre Beech Island estate. The trustees are Mr. Brown's longtime attorney Buddy Dallas, accountant David Cannon and former South Carolina Magistrate Alford "Judge" Bradley.

The will calls for Mr. Brown's personal effects - not yet revealed - to be divided equally among six heirs - daughters Venisha, Yamma and Deanna and sons Terry, Larry and Daryl, his adult children.

North Augusta lawyer James Huff said that if a will specifically names some children but excludes others, the excluded children have no claim to the parent's assets, regardless of when they were born.

Mr. Huff represented Mr. Brown when he sought to annul his marriage to Mrs. Brown in 2004, a petition the singer later dismissed. Mr. Huff said he doesn't recall that Mr. Brown's will came up during that dispute, which saw Mr. Brown arrested on domestic violence charges.

Augusta lawyer Thomas Allgood Jr. said he agrees with Mr. Brown's attorneys that, under South Carolina law, the Browns were not legally wed if they didn't enter into another marriage agreement after the 2004 annulment.

Mrs. Brown's attorneys likely will argue that they were common-law spouses during that time, Mr. Allgood said.

"Did they live under the same roof?" Mr. Allgood said in an e-mail. "Did they file joint tax returns? Did she use his last name on any legal documents such as drivers license, social security records, etc.? Did he claim her as a dependent? Did he refer to her as his wife in any legal documents?"

Mrs. Brown said on CNN's Larry King Live this month that, after the 2004 ruckus, to get back into Mr. Brown's home she was forced to sign a document saying she would not claim to be his common-law wife.

"Tomi Rae Hynie knows, and her attorney knows, that she is not his common-law wife," Mr. Huff said. "(She) has caused an utter mess in the life and legacy of James Brown. Much of the mess that she finds herself and her child in now is of her own doing, and is her own undoing."

Mrs. Brown said last week she could no longer speak to reporters. Her attorney, Mr. Rosen, did not immediately return calls Monday.

Mr. Thurmond said he became involved in the singer's estate a little more than a week ago and acknowledged that their families have had a long relationship. His father, the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, and Mr. Brown, a South Carolina native, were friends for many years, he said.