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Case file s1752 · Music and sport · 2022
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2022
Jerry Lee Lewis: Jerry Lee Lewis publicity photo, 1950s
Jerry Lee Lewis. photographer:Maurice Seymour, Chicago. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
28 October 2022
Place
Nesbit, Mississippi · United States
Field
rock and roll · Music on the timeline
Legal tradition
US common law (Mississippi) · Common law
Historical event
Sun Records and the birth of rock and roll
Religion
Jerry Lee Lewis: Other (recorded as Assemblies of God on Wikidata)
Music and sportSeized by the stateNowNorth AmericaUnited States

Jerry Lee Lewis put his ranch in his manager's name to hide it from the IRS; after he died, a judge ordered his son out and the manager's heirs listed it for $1.6 million

Jerry Lee Lewis died at 87 at the Lewis Ranch, a 30-acre property in Nesbit, south of Memphis. In the early 1970s he put the ranch in the name of Cecil Harrelson, his road manager, best friend and brother-in-law, to protect it from the IRS and ex-wives. The IRS seized his assets in 1979 over a $274,000 tax debt and seized more items from the ranch in 1984. Lewis filed for bankruptcy in 1988 owing about $2 million in taxes. Harrelson held two-thirds; the heirs of a law firm held the other third. Harrelson died before Lewis, and his will gave his three children the proceeds of a sale after Lewis's death. Lewis's will left the ranch to his son Jerry Lee Lewis III. A sale website went up on 25 November 2022, less than a month after the death. Lewis III was served eviction papers in January 2023. On 3 February 2023 a DeSoto County judge sided with the Harrelson heirs, finding the ranch was in a life trust Lewis gave Harrelson, and ordered Lewis III out by 5 March. He started a GoFundMe for an $80,000 down payment and moved out in March. Widow Judith Lewis said the home was not for sale. In October 2023 the Harrelson heirs listed it for $1.6 million. In 2026 no completed sale was found†.

What the law took from it

Property titled in a friend's name to beat creditors belongs to the friend's heirs, whatever the will says.

Sources
  1. savingcountrymusic.comPress
  2. noticias.foxnews.comPress
  3. kait8.comPress
  4. wowt.comPress
  5. desotocountynews.comPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Jerry Lee Lewis put his ranch in his manager's name to hide it from the IRS; after he died, a judge ordered his son out and the manager's heirs listed it for $1.6 million,” story s1752, https://www.celebrity.estate/jerry-lee-lewis-2022, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Music and sportSeized by the stateNowNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States