Dolly Parton’s Nephew Is ‘Making Things Worse’ in Lawsuit

Soon after Seaver announced Parton’s death in a video, he became embroiled in a legal dispute involving her estate. According to new reporting, he has placed barbed wire and no-trespassing notices around his property in an apparent attempt to avoid the case. One legal analyst warned that the move may be creating even more trouble for him.

Dolly Parton’s estate and her nephew are feuding

She’s Alive LLC, the company overseeing Parton’s business interests, filed suit against Seaver, accusing him of threatening and attempting to extort the estate.

“Mr. Seaver began his campaign of threats, intimidation, and coercion a few weeks prior to Ms. Parton’s passing,” the filing states, according to Variety. “Those threats continued after her passing, and he aimed them directly at SAL’s personnel, counsel, and business partners. In writing, he vowed to ‘destroy the entire brand,’ threatened to ‘ratf*** every [business party] entity’ that helps operate Dollywood and called himself ‘literally an international arms dealer and mercenary.’”

A new filing says a process server attempting to deliver court papers to Seaver encountered a “no-trespassing sign in the front yard and barbed wire draped across the handrails leading to the front door,” ABC News reported.

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“Mr. Seaver attempted to evade service of process, and this Court should not reward that behavior,” the filing alleges. It further states that the process server made three attempts to serve him.

A lawyer said Dolly Parton’s nephew is making things worse for himself

Although Seaver appears to be trying to keep the lawsuit at a distance, a legal expert said those efforts are unlikely to stop the case.

“Seaver simply can’t make a lawsuit disappear by using barbed wire and signs,” attorney Miguel Custodio said. “If he is deliberately going out of his way to avoid being reached by the law, courts can still allow the case to proceed without cooperation from the defendant.”

Rather than resolving the dispute, the alleged effort to avoid service could compound Seaver’s legal problems. It is unlikely to prevent the lawsuit from moving ahead and may work against him.

“An individual attempting to avoid service can actually worsen problems for them; their conduct can become part of the procedural record and negatively affect their case going forward,” Custodio explained.

Custodio said Seaver will ultimately have to respond to the legal proceedings, regardless of whether he believes the allegations are unfounded. There is no simple way to make the case disappear.

“Once a dispute reaches the courthouse, parties have to engage with the legal process whether they want to or not,” Custodio said. “If defendants could simply refuse to appear because they believe the allegations against them are fabricated, the court system would have no way to move cases forward.”