Ike Turner’s former wives did not inherit from his estate under the claims reported after his death in December 2007. The main reported dispute involved a handwritten document that Audrey Madison Turner said named her as beneficiary; a judge ruled it invalid. Reporting then identified Ike’s adult children as heirs under state law. A different former wife, Jeanette Bazzell Turner, asserted a separate community-property claim, and the sources reviewed do not show how that claim was resolved.
Who the “wives” were
Reporting quotes Ike Turner saying on multiple occasions that he had been married 13 times. That is an attributed statement, not a verified count of legally valid marriages, and it is why this article refers to “former wives” rather than a fixed number.
Tina Turner is the best-known former wife, but the sources reviewed do not identify her as making any claim against the estate. A publicist for Tina Turner told the Los Angeles Times, in reporting by Geoff Boucher, “She has not had any contact with him in 35 years. No further comment will be made.” That statement describes the estrangement only; it is not a probate finding.
The handwritten will claim
Audrey Madison Turner said Ike left a handwritten will naming her as beneficiary. A judge ruled that document invalid. Secondary biographical reporting places the ruling in 2009 and ties it to a San Diego County probate matter.
Two limits matter when reading that ruling:
- The question before the court was whether the handwritten document was a valid will. It was not a finding about whether Audrey had any separate right to Ike’s property.
- The ruling is described in secondary biographical sourcing. The reporting reviewed does not give the judge’s reasoning, and no probate order was reviewed directly for this article.
An appellate court index lists an appeal from a San Diego County probate judgment. The text of any decision was not available for this article, so the reasoning and outcome of that appeal are unknown here, and nothing in this article depends on them.
Who inherited instead
Reports say the estate passed to Ike’s adult children as his heirs under state law. When someone dies without a valid will, state intestacy rules decide who inherits. Once the handwritten document was ruled invalid, that rule governed the estate, which is why the children, not a former wife, were identified as heirs.
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The sources reviewed do not give the share each child received, the estate’s total value, or the final distribution.
Jeanette Bazzell Turner’s community-property claim
Jeanette Bazzell Turner’s claim is a different legal argument. In April 2008, TMZ reported that she had asserted community-property rights. The report said she married Ike in 1995 and divorced him in 2000.
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A community-property claim concerns property tied to a marriage, not a beneficiary named in a will. That makes it a separate question from the handwritten will. The TMZ report describes an asserted claim. It does not say whether the claim was pursued, settled, or dropped, and no ruling on it appears in the reporting reviewed. Treat it neither as a failed inheritance nor as a successful one.
Timeline
| Date | Event | Source and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Ike and Tina Turner separate | Los Angeles Times reporting |
| 1986 | Tina Turner publishes her autobiography, I, Tina | Los Angeles Times reporting |
| December 2007 | Ike Turner dies in San Marcos, California | Los Angeles Times reporting |
| April 2008 | Jeanette Bazzell Turner’s community-property claim is reported; she is said to have married Ike in 1995 and divorced him in 2000 | TMZ report of an asserted claim, not its outcome |
| 2009 | A judge rules Audrey Madison Turner’s handwritten will invalid; Ike’s adult children are recognized as heirs | Secondary biographical reporting; probate order not reviewed directly |
| Later | An appeal from a San Diego County probate judgment appears in an appellate index | Index entry only; decision text not available for this article |
The claims compared
The three questions in this story are distinct: whether a document was a valid will, who inherits when no valid will controls, and whether a former spouse has an independent property claim. The table keeps them apart.
| Claimant | Relationship to Ike | Legal basis asserted | Ruling documented in sources reviewed | Still unknown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audrey Madison Turner | Former wife | Beneficiary under a handwritten will | Yes, in secondary reporting: judge ruled the document invalid (reported for 2009) | The judge’s reasoning and the outcome of the later appeal |
| Jeanette Bazzell Turner | Former wife (married 1995, divorced 2000, per TMZ) | Community-property rights | Not stated; no ruling found in sources reviewed | Whether the claim was pursued, settled, or dropped, and any amount |
| Ike Turner’s adult children | Children | Heirs under state law after the will was ruled invalid | Reported as heirs after the ruling (secondary reporting) | Each child’s share and the estate’s total value |
| Tina Turner | Former wife; separated from Ike in 1976 | No claim identified | Not stated; no claim identified in sources reviewed | Nothing reported beyond the publicist’s statement on estrangement |
About net-worth figures
Celebrity net-worth figures for Ike Turner are estimates. They are not estate assets, court-confirmed values, or evidence of what any person received. No court-confirmed inventory or valuation of the estate appears in the reporting reviewed, so none of these figures should be read as what the estate held or paid out.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Background reading
For relationship context, Tina Turner’s memoir I, Tina (1986) describes the marriage from her side. It is background only and is not a source for the probate outcome.
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