Lawyers have shut Tomi Rae Hynie out of the home she shared with late legend James Brown, claiming the two were never legally married. Hynie, however, claims otherwise. According to The Associated Press, Hynie says she has documentation proving she is Brown’s legal wife.

Hynie, 36, found the gates to the Beech Island, South Carolina home padlocked the day of Brown’s death (Christmas) and was denied access.

“This is my home,” said the mother of Brown’s 5-year-old son. “I don’t have any money. I don’t have anywhere to go.”

Hynie has reportedly been forced to stay in a Augusta hotel with no change of clothes and no money. She says “James Brown’s wishes” were for her to live in his home with their child as long as she wanted.

Brown’s lawyer, Buddy Dallas, says the decision to lock Hynie out of the house is not personal.

“It’s not a reflection on her as an individual. I have not even been in the house, nor will I until appropriate protocol is followed.”

He then claimed she had her own house to go to.

“Ms. Hynie has a home a few blocks away from Mr. Brown’s home where she resides periodically when she is not with Mr. Brown,” Dallas continued. “She is not without housing or home.”

Dallas would not go into detail regarding Brown’s final instructions, but he did acknowledge the estate was left in trust for his children.

Hynie’s 2001 marriage to Brown was nullified when it was discovered she was already married to a Pakistani polygamist. She eventually annulled the previous marriage but never remarried Brown.

Hynie claims a judge told her she was legally married to Brown.

She had not seen the iconic performer for several weeks before his death, claiming that he’d sent her away to California to relax on the beach.

“My job, marriage was difficult. So he sent me to the beach. He paid $24,000 for me to go.”

The partnership between Brown and Hynie was peppered with domestic abuse charges and other challenges.

“He was a difficult man to live with, but he was a great man,” she said. “I was the only one who could handle James.”

Mr. James Brown, 73, is survived by at least five children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.