Brown's Burial Fit for a King...or Godfather

Papa don't take no mess, especially when it comes to being laid to rest.

Eleven days after the last of several memorial services, James Brown has yet to be buried, as his lawyers and heirs finalize plans to turn his burial site into a Graceland-like destination.

Attorney Debra Opri, who represents the Brown family, told E! Online the legendary singer's body has been transferred from a funeral parlor in Brown's hometown of Augusta, Georgia, to his Beech Island residence in South Carolina, where it will eventually be interred.

She also announced that the estate will not only serve as Mr. Dynamite's final resting place but will also be transformed into a museum and potential tourist mecca celebrating the life of one of the 20th century's greatest and most influential entertainers.

"There's a lot of red tape to complete before they can inter him, but a committee has been formed of family, friends and trustees to effectuate the transformation of his private residence into a museum, and he will also be laid to rest there," Opri said, noting that it took 90 days before Elvis Presley was laid to rest at his famed Memphis mansion.

The funk icon died of heart failure on Christmas Day in Atlanta at the age of 73.

Charles Reid, manager of C.A. Reid Funeral Home of Augusta, placed Brown's embalmed body in a sealed casket and delivered it to the Carolina home after services concluded on Dec. 30. There it has remained under guard in a climate-controlled room.

"I'm waiting on the family to get back in touch with me and let me know about the procedure," Reid said, adding that he expected to hear from them "sometime this week."

Brown's personal attorney, Buddy Dallas, said the family was just waiting for construction to be completed on what sounds like an elaborate mausoleum.

"Rome was not built in a day, and when you're dealing with third parties and you've got to get artist renditions of it, all of that just takes some time," he said.

As for Brown's will, Opri confirmed that it will be read Thursday.

"It will deal with the distribution of his personal effects and what he wanted his family and friends to have," she said. "But the crux of his estate is held in his trust with two specific purposes: To sustain and maintain his legacy and help needy children."

Opri refused to comment on the burgeoning feud between Brown's trustees and his longtime companion, Tomi Rae Hynie. Hynie, who sang backup for Brown, claims that the trustees locked her out of the house she shared with the Godfather of Soul and their five-year-old son only hours after his passing in a bid to force her out of the will.

Dallas, meanwhlie, angrily denied the allegations and said that the gates were padlocked to prevent people from raiding the property for memorabilia.

"I locked the house for security reasons. It wasn't personality reasons. I didn't think about Ms. Hynie or the children. Any prudent attorney would have done the same thing," Dallas told E! Online. "To this day, Ms. Hynie has never made a request by herself or through a representative to arrange to get a pair of shoes or handbag or whatever she may have left on the estate. The first thing we heard is she's throwing herself against the gates with a camera crew. She hasn't been there in six weeks."

The attorney said he has referred to Hynie as Brown's estranged girlfriend because despite them being partners for over a decade and having a child together, they never legally wed. Hynie was married to another man at the time she and Brown initially swapped vows, Dallas explained, and after Hynie got an annulment from her previous husband, she and Brown never made their union official.

Hynie, who was not by the singer's side when he died, has called such an assertion a "blatant lie," and has insisted Brown was her legal spouse. During an interview on CNN's Larry King Live last week, she even held up a marriage certificate dated December 2001 to prove it.

Signifying that a battle may be brewing over Brown's fortune, his adult children boycotted Larry King Live, instead dispatching Opri to challenge Hynie's claims that she was mistreated at the Augusta memorial by the family and the Reverend Al Sharpton.

The civil rights leader, a decades-long friend of Brown's, organized a public viewing at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York, the day before and presided over both public and private services.

Hynie accused Sharpton of dissing her during the service by not referring to her as Brown's wife, acting rudely and asking her to leave.

"Reverend Sharpton said...the whole family had a part in arranging this funeral and the whole family did not, because the whole family ignored me," Hynie said. "They never called me...They never even asked if their little brother needed something to eat or a place to sleep."

She continued: "I walked off the stage. That's when they told me that there was no more funeral and that I was to go this way. And that's when the eulogies were held, and I wasn't able to say anything about my husband."

Opri offered a different version of events.

"I was at the side stage with Reverend Sharpton and, at the side of that stage, Tomi Rae was attempting to grab a microphone so she could perform at her own companion's funeral," the attorney told King. "Tomi Rae embarrassed herself and embarrassed the fans and the family the way she conducted herself."

Thornton Morris, an attorney for Hynie, has called for the parties to get together and consider mediation to resolve the issues, depending, of course, on what happens when the will is read on Thursday.

Meanwhile, plans are underway in Augusta to pay tribute to the city's favorite son. Before his death, the local arena was renamed in Brown's honor and a life-size statue was installed downtown. According to local news reports, world-renowned British sculptor Donald Brown may be commissioned to design something called the James Brown Legacy Monument, a massive sculpture that would feature the Soul Brother Number One in three of his most memorable poses: dancing on stage, kneeling with his cape and singing into a microphone.

The project has the backing of Brown's family, but money for the monument will come mostly from private donations. It is also possible the sculpture could wind up at the South Carolina museum rather than Augusta.