Jurors side with music producer Fred Fletcher in will dispute over Billy Joe Shaver’s estate

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Country music legend Billy Joe Shaver wrote in his hit song “Live Forever” that he wanted his songs to live forever, and a McLennan County jury on Wednesday put the fate of Shaver’s musical legacy into the hands of an Austin music producer and longtime Shaver friend.

Jurors in County Court-at-Law 1 deliberated about 20 minutes before unanimously siding with Willie Nelson’s nephew, Fred Fletcher, in a will contest that pit him against Shaver’s nephew, Terry Dwayne Rogers.

After three days of testimony, the jury of four men and two women decided that a handwritten will Shaver wrote in front of six witnesses in Fletcher’s Austin office in 2008 leaving Shaver’s assets, including royalties from his prolific songwriting career, should be honored over a 2005 will Shaver’s lawyer drafted leaving his estate to Rogers.

Shaver died in October 2020 at the age of 81. He was a longtime Waco resident and a Corsicana native who was a charter member of the Outlaw country music scene of the 1970s. He was perhaps better known as a poetic songwriter, penning such hits as “I’m just an Old Chunk of Coal, “Live Forever,” “Georgia on a Fast Train” and “Wacko from Waco.”

A verse from “Live Forever” that played prominently in the will contest trial says, “Nobody here will ever find me. But I will always be around. Just like songs I leave behind me. I’m gonna live forever now.”

Fletcher, the son of talented pianist Bobbie Nelson, Willie’s sister, testified that Shaver trusted him to help his musical legacy live on and to protect the integrity of his life’s work.

A court ruling prevented the parties from mentioning at trial the tribute album of Shaver’s songs that Fletcher put together two years after Shaver’s death. Country music giants George Strait, Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell and others eagerly accepted Fletcher’s invitation to sing on the album, which won a Grammy Award for best solo country performance for Nelson’s version of “Live Forever.”

Fletcher, who played drums in Shaver’s band before he left the road to open his business, said after the trial that he intends to honor his promise to Shaver.

“The thing of the tribute album was to keep Billy Joe’s music alive, but also as a tribute to him from all these great artists who loved him and respected him and loved his writing,” Fletcher said. “It was an honor and a tribute to him. It was just a thing that needed to be done, and it’s just the beginning, honestly.”

Fletcher, represented by Andy McSwain and Blaine McSwain, said he thinks the jury was fair.

“But the biggest part of this is Billy Joe Shaver’s music gets protected, and his wishes get to be honored as he asked me to do. I wish it hadn’t come to this, but that is the way the law works, and we are just ready to move on past it. But his music will live on and that is exactly what he wanted and that will be my intention and my duty as I promised him I’d do,” Fletcher said.

Rogers, who was represented by Whitney Fanning and Bruce Perryman, declined comment after the trial. Fanning said he wanted to “let the dust settle a bit” before discussing the possibility of an appeal with Rogers.

Rogers testified that Shaver rescued him from an abusive stepfather when he was 10 and raised him as his son. He lived in Nashville for decades but returned to Waco in 2008 and said he took care of Shaver as he aged and his health failed. He testified Wednesday morning that Shaver told him that he “will be well taken care of” in Shaver’s estate, adding Shaver did not discuss the superseding 2008 will that named Fletcher sole beneficiary.

Rogers acknowledged that the copy of the 2008 will was in Shaver’s handwriting, but insisted it could be a fake document since Shaver had not told him about it and the original could not be found.

Fletcher and his wife, Lisa, both testified they have conducted exhaustive searches for the original will but said the document likely was lost in moves of Fletcher’s offices or in a flood of the Colorado River that destroyed their cabin near Bastrop.

Andy McSwain told jurors in closing statements that the evidence of Shaver’s intent was overwhelmingly in favor of Fletcher.

“In order to find that there was no original will, you have to find that six people lied to you, and even Terry Rogers was not willing to tell you that,” McSwain said.

Fanning argued that Shaver unfortunately is not here to protect himself or to tell them his wishes, calling Fletcher’s case a “web of deceit,” “one juke after another” and labeled the handwritten will a “monstrosity.”

Wanda Shaver, the ex-wife of Billy Joe Shaver, says she feels like the jury got it right.

Wanda and Billy Joe were married for 15 years but remained close after their divorce.

She said via telephone from her home in Florida that Billy Joe’s legacy depended on the jury finding that the long-time friend and music producer Fred Fletcher be named sole beneficiary of his estate, not because of the meager physical assets he left behind but because of his music.

“I was thrilled and I actually cried tears of joy when I heard the verdict because I know how important Billy’s music was to him. I feel like it’s in the right hands.” she said.

Wanda says the family has always been somewhat dysfunctional but after Billy Joe died in 2020, this escalated as some scrambled to get some or all of his assets.

“After being married to Billy for 15 years, dysfunctional is an understatement,” Wanda said.

Wanda says she believes the jury saw through what she considered a desperate money grab.

“I think the jury had to have seen past the lies and deceit of a person that was untruthful and had no intentions of honoring Billy’s wishes,” Wanda said.

One of Billy Joe’s famous songs featured a line that said “Just like the songs I leave behind me, I’m gonna live forever now,” and Wanda feels like this is now the case.

“To be able to know that his music is being preserved in the right hands, it means everything because it’s all Billy wanted. He wanted his music to be taken care of because that was his legacy.”