A man identifying himself as a biological son from outside of Charley Pride's 64-year marriage to his wife Rozene is contesting the late country star's will in Dallas County (Texas) Probate Court. The will only lists Pride's three children from his marriage: Carlton, Dion and Angela.
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Per the Dallas Morning News, Tyler Pride, a 41-year-old police officer, was declared Pride's son by a Texas court in 1992 following a DNA test. As a result, Charley Pride was ordered to pay back child support of $92,000 plus $4,000 per month to Tyler's mother, Joyce Ann Tines, until their son turned 18.
Around that same time, the former Tyler Tines changed his legal name to Tyler Pride.
Rozene Pride, the executor of her late husband's will, questioned Tyler's intentions in a statement to the Dallas Morning News without disputing his paternity claims.
"It is heartbreaking to see Tyler try to tarnish Charley's reputation and break Charley's estate plan in the hope of getting more money for himself," Rozene wrote. "Tyler's relationship with Charley in the last years was all about money, since he only called Charley when he wanted money or something else he wanted Charley to get him. He viewed Charley as his 'cash cow' and little more."
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Tyler Pride told the Dallas Morning News that he knew from "day one" that the Country Music Hall of Fame member and "Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'" singer was his dad.
"I remember growing up playing his records, and listening to his music and knowing that he was Dad," Tyler Pride adds. "So, it was never a mystery as to who he was or where I came from."
Tyler Pride's referred to in the lawsuit as "a secret that Charley believed threatened his brand and reputation" (as quoted by the Dallas Morning News), with the word "secret" used 13 times in the text.
"He was trying to keep peace at home," Tyler told the Dallas newspaper. "He used to tell me all the time, 'Son, there'll come a day when we'll be one big happy family. But now, I need to do my best to keep peace at home.' He was always torn between two families and would always say, 'I want to treat all my kids — all four of you — the same.'"
The court action follows Tyler Pride's February lawsuit against his mother, which, per the the Dallas Morning News, accuses Joyce Ann Tines of "stalking Tyler Pride and his children for nearly a decade."
"I do hope that Tyler can find peace in his life," Rozene Pride told the Dallas Morning News. "It is hard to believe that during the last four months Tyler sued his mother, sued me and publicly trashed his father's reputation. Tyler sent me a draft of his 13-page lawsuit and threatened to file it if we would not give in to his demands. That shows how little he knew about his father, because Charley would never be bullied and neither will I."
Tyler married his wife Charity Pride in 2010. They have children ages 13, 10 and 4.
The Dallas Morning News report adds that parents in Texas are "legally permitted to omit any children from being designated as beneficiaries should they choose to do so."
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