Barry White never divorced the wife he separated from in 1988; she became his executor, and 2 of his children later sued her over stopped payments

Barry White married Glodean James, a singer in his group Love Unlimited, in 1974. They reportedly separated in 1988 but stayed legally married. White died of kidney failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on 4 July 2003, aged 58, and Glodean, estranged from him for over a decade, became sole executor of his estate. His girlfriend, Katherine Denton, said her infant daughter was his child and that he owed her money and personal items; paternity tests showed he was not the father, and she lost her court case. In July 2016 his daughter Denise White, born in 1962, sued the estate after her payments stopped. In May 2017 his son Darryl White sued Glodean, saying she never let him see the will after 2003, promised him his "fair share" if he did not challenge the amount, and stopped paying him in September 2015. He asked the court for access to the will and "a proper accounting of what he is due." In October 2024 EURweb reported that the Barry White Family Trust, led by Glodean White and Jack W. Perry, had sued Rodney-O and Joe Cooley, alleging that their 1986 track "Everlasting Bass," sampled on "Like That" by Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar, infringes White's 1973 song "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Babe." The trust seeks over $1 million. Status: rulings in the 2016 and 2017 suits and in the 2024 copyright suit are not confirmed^†.