A Judge Just Ordered Faith Evans to Pay $12.5 Million to Biggie’s Mother’s Trust — With Interest, It’s Closer to $14 Million
A Delaware judge has put a number on one of the most sensitive disputes in hip-hop: the fight over The Notorious B.I.G.’s estate money. The company Faith Evans manages has been ordered to pay more than $12.5 million to the trust of Biggie’s late mother, Voletta Wallace — and with interest, the bill is expected to climb close to $14 million.
Story: Billboard’s reporting on the Delaware Court of Chancery decision, via Complex.
On October 27, 2026, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery ordered Notorious B.I.G., LLC to pay the Voletta Wallace Revocable Trust $12,518,336 in withheld distributions — plus prejudgment interest calculated from the dates each distribution was originally due, compounded quarterly. Jay Freiberg, the attorney for estate executor Wayne Barrow, told Billboard the total with interest will approach $14 million.
The fight goes back to 2023, when Barrow sued over the estate’s money. According to Billboard, Barrow accused Evans and the LLC of withholding distributions, mishandling funds, and failing to properly account for estate income — claims Evans and the company denied.
According to the ruling, the court rejected the claim that Evans and the LLC acted in bad faith, and also rejected the request to dissolve the LLC — but it found that the Trust was owed the distributions and ordered the payment.
Evans is not paying out of pocket in the way the headline number might suggest, according to the court order: the payment is owed by Notorious B.I.G., LLC — the company she manages — to the Voletta Wallace Revocable Trust, which is now controlled by Barrow.
Wallace, who died in February 2025 at age 78, was the driving force behind preserving her son’s legacy, founding the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation and working to keep Biggie’s music and memory alive.
Barrow, who has served as executor of Biggie’s estate since 2001, brought the case after Wallace’s health declined and control of the trust shifted. The court’s decision marks a major turning point in a dispute that has divided the estate’s stakeholders for years.
After interest is applied, the total is expected to approach $14 million — a figure that underscores just how much money was at stake in the long-running fight over Biggie’s legacy.
Correction: This story was corrected to clarify that the payment is owed by Notorious B.I.G., LLC, not by Faith Evans personally.
