Something Selena Quintanilla would likely be heartbroken by is happening within her family. More than 30 years after her death, a legal battle over her legacy is putting her family at odds. Her brother, A.B. Quintanilla III, has sued Suzette Quintanilla Arriaga and Q Productions, claiming he has been denied his contractual share of profits connected to Selena’s entertainment properties for years.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday, September 10, in Nueces County, Texas, after more than a week of public back-and-forth between the siblings. A.B. is seeking monetary relief exceeding $1 million and a full accounting of the financial activity surrounding Selena’s entertainment properties dating back to 2016, per TMZ.
At the center of the dispute is an agreement the family entered into shortly after Selena was murdered in 1995.
Selena was just 23 when she was killed by Yolanda Saldívar on March 31, 1995. Since she died without a will, in May 1995, her husband Chris Pérez, her parents Abraham and Marcella Quintanilla, and her siblings A.B. and Suzette entered into an Estate Properties Agreement, which established a framework for controlling and profiting from certain entertainment rights connected to her name, voice, signature, photograph, and likeness
© Getty Images for The Recording AAccording to A.B.’s lawsuit, he was entitled to 25% of the net profits generated by those properties. He now claims he has not received his full contractual share since around 2016.
The lawsuit alleges that Suzette took over operational control of Q Productions around that time after their father delegated CEO responsibilities to her.
A.B. claims he discovered the alleged nonpayment in spring 2025 and subsequently sought financial records and an accounting of the business. According to the lawsuit, those records were not provided.
A.B. is asking a judge to order a full accounting of Q Productions’ financial activity from January 1, 2016, through the present, including revenue, royalties, expenses, and profits connected to Selena’s entertainment properties.
He is also accusing Suzette and Q Productions of breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty and is seeking more than $1 million in monetary relief, in addition to attorney’s fees.
© Getty ImagesThe lawsuit is the latest chapter in a family dispute that became public earlier this month.
On September 1, A.B. publicly acknowledged that there was a legal dispute involving Suzette and circumstances surrounding their late father, Abraham, who died on December 13, 2025.
© Getty Images“This comes from years,” A.B. said in his statement, describing the situation as the result of years of circumstances and decisions that he had previously kept private. At the time, however, Suzette and their mother, Marcella, questioned whether a lawsuit had actually been filed.
In a statement shared on Selena’s official social media accounts, Marcella and Suzette said Suzette had not been served with a lawsuit or other court documents and strongly denied A.B.’s accusations.
“There was no theft by Suzette,” they said, denying that she had stolen, misappropriated, or improperly taken money or property belonging to A.B., Abraham, Marcella, Pérez, Selena’s estate, or any family-owned business. They also challenged A.B. to provide evidence supporting his allegations. “If A.B. has evidence that Suzette stole or misappropriated anything, he should present it,” they said.
A.B. later pushed back, saying Suzette and her attorneys had been notified of the legal action by certified mail and email. His attorney, Jeff Lehrman, said the lawsuit would seek both unpaid distributions and an accounting.
© GettyThe timing is significant. For decades, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. was the central figure overseeing Selena’s commercial legacy. His death last December left the family navigating the business structure surrounding the singer’s name, music, and image without the patriarch who had overseen it for decades.
Suzette has remained deeply involved in preserving her sister’s legacy. She was a member of Selena y Los Dinos alongside Selena and A.B. and has continued working on projects connected to Selena, including the Selena Museum and other ventures surrounding the singer’s brand.
A.B., meanwhile, was a bassist, producer, and songwriter who helped shape some of the songs that became synonymous with her career, including “Como la Flor,” “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” and “Amor Prohibido.” He later found major success with Kumbia Kings and Kumbia All Starz.
The family’s complicated history with the agreement at the heart of the lawsuit isn’t new, either.
Pérez previously became involved in a legal battle with Abraham over the agreement after attempting to develop a television project based on his memoir about Selena. That dispute continued for years before being resolved in 2021.
© GettyPérez has once again found himself pulled into the family drama, although he has made clear that he does not want to take sides. He recently asked people on social media to stop involving him in the dispute and tagging him in posts.
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