Last season on the Real Housewives of Potomac, Gizelle Bryant told us she was fighting her father’s widow over his will, and at the reunion she said she and her siblings lost. She never gave us the details. Now our friends over at the Bravo Docket, one of our favorite Bravo legal duos, have gone through the court records on their podcast, and the Girls Are Fighting summarized it nicely on social media. You know we cite our sources, so I’ll link the full episode. Turns out the will she was fighting wasn’t the one that decided it. Here we go.

Six Days After Brain Surgery? Hold On, Wait a Minute

According to the Bravo Docket’s review, Gizelle’s father, Curtis Graves, signed a 17-page will in 2023 that was extremely favorable to his wife, Kay. It gave her his wedding ring, a gold chain, household belongings and other property, and it named her the beneficiary of the rest of his estate as long as she survived him by 30 days. Here’s the part that’s going to shock some of y’all. His three children were in the will, but their inheritance basically depended on Kay dying within those 30 days. If she did, 40% of the remainder would be split among his three children, and the other 60% would go to Kay’s sister. And yes, Gizelle has a brother and a sister. She just rarely talks about them. Then look at the timing. According to the filing, he was 84 when he was hospitalized in July 2023, had extensive brain surgery on July 14, and was left paralyzed on his left side. He reportedly signed the will on July 20, shortly before he died. So I understand exactly why Gizelle and her siblings said, hold on, wait a damn minute.

“He went for brain surgery on July 14th and he’s signing a will on July 20th.”

The Will Got Pulled Over a Zoom Signing

His children argued that he didn’t have the mental capacity to understand what he was signing, and that Kay had undue influence over him. They asked the court to throw out the 2023 will and divide the estate under Georgia’s intestacy laws, the rules used when someone dies without a valid will. Gizelle also asked to be appointed administrator of the estate. Then it took a turn. In June 2024, Kay withdrew the 2023 will from probate. According to the Bravo Docket, there was a problem with how it was witnessed. The witnesses reportedly watched him sign over Zoom, then signed the paperwork later, after the attorney took it back to her office. Kay acknowledged the execution requirements weren’t met. That means the court never had to decide whether he lacked capacity or was unduly influenced. So all that drama Gizelle hinted at on the show never actually got tested. We only got a smidgen of this case on RHOP, and I get why. It’s personal, and it isn’t only Gizelle’s story to tell.

The 2006 Will Was Even Worse for Gizelle

Instead, Kay presented another will, dated June 9, 2006, and that’s where the estate drama got even more complicated. The older will also heavily favored Kay. If she survived him by 90 days, she’d receive the remainder of his personal and real property, including his boat. If she didn’t, 25% would go to his son, Christopher, and 75% would go to the same sister-in-law named in the 2023 will. So the earlier will wasn’t a rescue for the kids. It was worse. Kay’s sister went from 60% to 75%, only one child was named, and Gizelle wasn’t in it at all. In all fairness, a lot can change in 20 years. They could have been having a falling out. Gizelle could have been in a different place financially. I had to look it up live to make sure, and in 2006 Gizelle was still married to Jamal Bryant. They divorced in 2009. That matters, because her father also did not like Jamal, so maybe they weren’t in the best place as a family. Or maybe he was thinking, you’re married, you don’t need this.

That’s What the Streets Are Saying, Y’all

Look, I’m not completely surprised. Every time we met this man on the show, he was a spitfire. He was a civil rights leader and a politician, but there’s some troubling history there, including the colorism of it all. A YouTube channel broke some of that down, and you can Google Schmoogle it yourself. A lot of people online are saying he left his money and his civil rights memorabilia to a white woman. That’s what the streets are saying, and apparently that’s exactly what the will said. Not just the white woman, but the white woman’s sister. Wow, Gizelle. Remember, at the reunion, Gizelle left it at Kay having him sign a will while he was incapacitated. What we didn’t hear until the court documents is that Kay took that will back and pulled out the 2006 one. With Season 11 premiering Sunday, I wouldn’t be surprised if this doesn’t come up much during the season, but it will definitely come up at the reunion. Do you think Gizelle had a real case, or did the 2006 will settle it? Let me know. Here we go.

Disclaimer: This post is based on publicly available information and credited sources. All allegations are unproven