One day after James Brown's death, a debate continued over his marital status.

At stake is his $422,000 Beech Island home and who can live in it.

On Monday, security guards at the estate denied access to the woman who has been known as the entertainer's wife since December 2001, Tomi Rae Hynie Brown.

The order to keep her out came from Mr. Brown's attorney, Buddy Dallas, and accountant, David Cannon, said Mrs. Brown, 36.

"First of all, she's Mr. Brown's estranged girlfriend," Mr. Dallas said Tuesday. "She is not Mrs. Brown. She is not his widow."

A previous marriage to a Texas man made Mrs. Brown's marriage to Mr. Brown illegal, Mr. Dallas said.

"Mr. Brown was offended," he said. "He was hurt when this was discovered. They never remarried."

Her first marriage was annulled less than a day after the wedding ceremony, Mrs. Brown said.

A Charleston, S.C., judge agreed with Mrs. Brown and ruled her marriage to Mr. Brown legally binding, she said. Mrs. Brown said the court papers were not available Tuesday because the courts in Charleston were closed.

"One judge has already said I'm married to James Brown," Mrs. Brown said. "If it takes another judge to say it, then so be it. I'm going to fight for this."

Charleston County, S.C., court records confirm that Mrs. Brown's first marriage was annulled in April 2004.

Family Court Judge Charlie Segars-Andrews dissolved the 1997 marriage of Mrs. Brown to Javed Ahmed on the grounds that they did not consummate the marriage and that Mr. Ahmed married her to fraudulently to obtain U.S. citizenship, according to an April 2004 Associated Press report.

North Augusta attorney Jim Huff, who represented Mr. Brown when he sought his own annulment against Mrs. Brown in 2005 but later dismissed it, said he believes Mrs. Brown was not legally married to Mr. Brown.

Despite Mrs. Brown's claim, Judge Segars-Andrews' ruling doesn't mean her marriage to Mr. Brown was valid. Unless the two were remarried after Mrs. Brown's annulment to Mr. Ahmed, then they are not legally husband and wife.

The Rev. Larry Fryer said he married the couple in a ceremony at Mr. Brown's Beech Island home. He said he signed and mailed in the marriage license. He said he would not have performed the ceremony if he'd had any inkling there were concerns over her marital status.

"I wouldn't have done it. I would have told Mr. Brown because I love him. And I would have told Mr. Brown because if I had not told him I wouldn't have been his friend," he said.

Mr. Dallas would not comment on the prospect of litigation to determine Mrs. Brown's marital status.

"This is neither the time nor the place to discuss legal issues," he said. "It's a time for mourning the loss of our great friend, and a great humanitarian, and musician, and Augusta's favorite son."

Mr. Brown did not own the home. The 62-acre estate is owned by an irrevocable trust, according to Aiken County government records.

Mrs. Brown says Mr. Brown's manager, Charles Bobbit, has documentation that legally allows her to live at the home as long as she wants before converting it into a museum in the late singer's honor, much like the Memphis, Tenn., home of Elvis Presley.

"James and I talked about that all the time," Mrs. Brown said. "That's what he wanted. He wanted a Graceland."

Phone messages left for Mr. Bobbit were not immediately returned Tuesday.

"He doesn't want to talk to the media right now," Mrs. Brown said. "He wants to mourn the loss of his best friend."

Currently, Mrs. Brown is staying at a downtown Augusta hotel with her and Mr. Brown's 5-year-old son, James.

"I cannot afford this hotel room," Mrs. Brown said. "I don't have any money.

"I can't even change my clothes. Everything I own is in that house."

Mr. Dallas disputed that claim.

"She is neither homeless nor destitute," he said. "Her child is neither homeless nor destitute as she has a home just a few blocks from 430 Douglas Drive, where Mr. Brown has lived for 30 years."

Mrs. Brown said she thinks Mr. Dallas is referring to a mobile home on Pine Log Road she would stay in when she and Mr. Brown fought. That home was sold "years ago," she said.

Mr. Dallas also criticized Mrs. Brown for not being with Mr. Brown when he died.

"She has not even been by his side for the last several weeks because she's been in California in rehabilitation," he said.

Mrs. Brown said she was at a "retreat" to fight her dependence on anti-depressant medication.

"With my marriage and working and touring, I needed that, and James paid for that," she said. "I wanted to get off those pills, and I wanted to do it to help him get off those pills."

The intention, she said, was to leave California in time to join Mr. Brown at their home to celebrate the holiday and their Dec. 18 wedding anniversary.

"I love my husband," Mrs. Brown said. "I miss my husband. I'll never love anyone else ever again."

COMPLETE COVERAGE

James Brown: 1933-2006

James Brown, the world renown musical celebrity who never forgot his hometown of Augusta, died unexpectedly Christmas morning in an Atlanta hospital at age 73.

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