Bo Diddley's will gave his managers 30 percent of his songs forever, a judge let them sell the catalog to pay the IRS, and 22 heirs objected

Ellas McDaniel, Bo Diddley, signed a will in 2006, had a stroke in 2007 and died in 2008 at 79. In 1994 a federal judge had found a former manager siphoned his money for a decade and ruled he was owed $400,000. The 2006 will gave his managers 30 percent of all revenue from his intellectual property after death, and named the lawyer who drafted it trustee of the song rights, with lifetime power to pick successor trustees. After the stroke he sold some rights to pay for medical care, and the IRS claimed $1.1 million in tax on that sale. In May 2011 Circuit Judge Robert Roundtree approved the managers' plan to sell the catalog of about 70 songs, valued at $4.3 million, to pay the IRS. The managers could take 15 percent of the sale and the estate lawyer's firm 5 percent. The 22 heirs opposed the sale and the fees. Fuji Music held the rights. The family received its first trust accounting in 2016. In 2018, 18 family members hired the Florida Probate Law Group to remove the trustee and the managers, alleging Bo was manipulated into the plan and lacked capacity in 2006. These are the family's allegations. The firm wrote in 2020 that the case had "a happy ending" without stating terms. In 2026 the outcome is unconfirmed^†.