Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s widow sues his mother over pre-nup

The widow of “The Cosby Show” actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner is suing her mother-in-law over a pre-nup.

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TMZ was first to report on the lawsuit, in which Tenisha Warner is suing Pamela Warner. Pamela Warner is a trustee of the Warner Family Trust.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, 54, drowned in Costa Rica on July 20, 2025.

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He set up the trust in 1996, US Weekly reported.

Tenisha Warner claims the actor agreed to several points in a prenuptial agreement the couple signed just before their wedding in 2022, according to TMZ.

The paperwork said the actor had annual earnings of about $680,000 while his net worth was about $3.4 million. When they got married, Tenisha Warner was not working and had no net worth. She was pregnant with their second child. They had been living together in Atlanta and Los Angeles, the agreement stated, according to US Weekly.

She said he agreed to maintain a $1 million life insurance policy that named her as the sole beneficiary. She claimed he did not buy the policy or maintain one.

The widow also said he did not make tax-free payments of $16,000, deposit money into a Roth IRA, or pay her a $5,000 salary as she worked as his chief of staff and assistant while they were married.

“Plaintiff performed all obligations required of her under the agreement, including entering into and remaining in the marriage until the decedent’s death,” the lawsuit read, according to US Weekly. “The decedent died without having satisfied his obligations under the agreement, and no person or entity has paid or provided the sums due to plaintiff under the agreement.”

She claims he owed her more than $1.2 million for not meeting the agreement before his death. She called herself a creditor of the estate in the lawsuit, US Weekly reported.

Tenisha Warner claims his estate does have enough to cover what she said he should have paid, so she is suing to have it come from the family trust. She’s also asking for interest, attorney’s fees and an order to block her mother-in-law from spending anything from the trust while the case is pending.

Tenisha Warner also filed a creditor’s claim in DeKalb County Probate Court against the estate, asking for the same amount of money, US Weekly reported.