A settlement has been reached in the Tom Petty estate battle between the rock legend’s widow and his two daughters from a previous marriage.
This past spring — Petty’s daughters Adria Petty and Annakim Violette — sued Dana York Petty for $5 million after claiming that the widow superseded the daughters’ rights to “equal participation” over decisions involving the singer’s estate and catalog.
However, legal documents obtained by Rolling Stone show that both parties, as well as Petty’s long-time manager Anthony Dimitriades, reached a “settlement agreement” on December 10th in regard to the estate battle. Details of the settlement were not revealed. A representative for Dana Petty would not comment on the settlement, while reps for Petty’s daughters did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone.
The estate disagreement reportedly impacted the release of the posthumous collection An American Treasure and scuttled a planned 25th anniversary edition of Petty’s acclaimed 1994 album Wildflowers; the status of that box set reissue remains unknown.
Alex Weingarten, an attorney for Petty’s daughters, said in a statement to Rolling Stone at the time, “Tom Petty wanted his music and his legacy to be controlled equally by his daughters, Adria and Annakim, and his wife, Dana. Dana has refused Tom’s express wishes and insisted instead upon misappropriating Tom’s life’s work for her own selfish interests. After countless efforts to resolve this matter amicably and out of court, we could no longer stand idly by and watch Dana disrespect Tom’s wishes, his music and his legacy.”
Dana Petty’s attorney Adam Streisand countered in a statement: “This misguided and meritless lawsuit sadly demonstrates exactly why Tom Petty designated his wife to be the sole trustee with authority to manage his estate. Dana will not allow destructive nonsense like this to distract her from protecting her husband’s legacy.”