Martin Luther King's family are legally battling with each other over his traveling bible and Nobel Peace Prize.
Brothers Martin Luther King III and Dexter Scott King asked a judge to order their sister Bernice to turn over their father's Nobel Peace Prize and bible so they could sell it to a private buyer, reported The Associated Press. The brothers are in ownership of The Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. Inc.
A hearing at Fulton County Superior Court will take place Tuesday, where Judge Robert McBurney will either decide the case or let it go to trial.
Bernice is attempting to withhold the Nobel Peace Prize and bible from her brothers because the items were cherished by her father and define who he was as a person, she told AP.
"You don't sell Bibles and you don't get but one Nobel Peace Prize. There are some items that you just don't put a price on," Rev. Timothy McDonald, who served as assistant pastor at Ebenezer from 1978 to 1984 and identifies himself as a friend of the whole King family, told AP.
At a hearing last year the estate's lawyers claimed King's sons wanted to sell the two items because the state needs money, reported AP.
It's unclear if the estate is actually in a financial rut, as it's a private entity so their finance records are not available to the public. Court records do not detail the estate's need for money.
If the brothers win the case Leila Dunbar and Clive Howe, two separate appraisers, expect the Nobel Peace Prize to sell between $5 million and $10 million. Dunbar expects the bible to sell for at least $200,000, adding that it could top $400,000. Howe believes the bible could even reach a $1 million price tag.
This legal family quarrel is not the only lawsuit between the family in regards to the estate. The battle over the ownership of the Nobel Peace Prize and bible is at least the fifth lawsuit between the siblings in the last decade, reported AP.
