AB Quintanilla III Officially Files Lawsuit Against Sister Suzette over Selena Estate Profits

**A.B. Quintanilla III and Suzette Quintanilla Arriaga are at the center of a new legal dispute over profits and financial accounting connected to Selena Quintanilla’s entertainment properties.**

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The legal dispute within the Quintanilla family has officially moved into the courtroom.

A.B. Quintanilla III has filed a lawsuit against his sister, Suzette Quintanilla-Arriaga, and two corporate entities, including Q Productions, over what his petition alleges are unpaid profits and a lack of financial accounting connected to the estate and entertainment properties of his late sister, Tejano music icon Selena Quintanilla-Pérez.

THE 1995 ESTATE PROPERTIES AGREEMENT

At the center of A.B.’s lawsuit is a legal agreement created shortly after Selena’s death in 1995.

Known as the Estate Properties Agreement, the May 1995 agreement was signed by Selena’s husband, Chris Pérez, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., Marcella Quintanilla, A.B. Quintanilla and Suzette Quintanilla Arriaga.

Public court records from earlier litigation involving Abraham Quintanilla and Chris Pérez describe an arrangement under which the agreement gave Abraham control over Selena’s entertainment properties, including rights associated with her name, voice, signature, photograph and likeness. The agreement also established a 25% net-profit interest for Pérez and members of the Quintanilla family.

A.B.’s new lawsuit alleges that he was entitled to 25% of the net profits generated from Selena’s entertainment properties and that those contractual rights have not been properly honored since approximately 2016.

The lawsuit identifies Selena’s entertainment properties as encompassing rights involving her name, voice, image, likeness and other intellectual property.

A.B. ALLEGES UNPAID PROFITS SINCE 2016

According to the allegations contained in the petition, Suzette assumed operational control of Q Productions around 2016 following the transition of responsibilities from their father.

A.B. alleges that he has not received the contractual share of profits to which he is entitled since that time.

The lawsuit further alleges that A.B. discovered what he describes as underpayments in the spring of 2025.

His attorneys subsequently sought financial records and an accounting of the business surrounding Selena’s entertainment properties, including royalties, licensing revenue and other financial information.

According to the allegations, those requests were not fulfilled, leading to the filing of the lawsuit.

The claims remain allegations and have not been proven in court.

LAWSUIT SEEKS ACCOUNTING AND MORE THAN $1 MILLION

The petition brings claims including breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.

A.B. is seeking a comprehensive accounting of the financial activity associated with the relevant entertainment properties dating back to January 1, 2016.

The lawsuit also seeks monetary relief of more than $1 million, along with attorney’s fees and other relief the court may determine is appropriate.

A.B. has also requested a jury trial.

The lawsuit names Suzette along with corporate defendants, including Q Productions, as defendants in the case.

A DISPUTE THAT BECAME PUBLIC THIS MONTH

The filing follows a highly public series of statements between members of the Quintanilla family.

Suzette Quintanilla Arriaga is named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed by her brother, A.B. Quintanilla III.

On September 2, Marcella and Suzette issued a joint statement through Selena’s official social media channels responding to A.B.’s public statements.

They characterized his allegations as false insinuations and denied that funds or property belonging to A.B., Chris Pérez, Selena’s estate or family businesses had been stolen or misappropriated.

At the time, the statement also questioned the existence of an officially filed lawsuit, asking where it had been filed and what its case number was.

A.B. subsequently responded that Suzette and her attorneys had been notified of the legal action by certified mail and electronic mail and maintained that the matter involved Suzette’s fiduciary responsibilities.

Last week, A.B.’s attorney Jeff Lehrman revealed that his firm was preparing the formal lawsuit and said it would seek unpaid distributions as well as an accounting of Selena’s estate.

At that time, the lawsuit had not yet been formally filed.

Thursday’s filing now moves the dispute into an official court proceeding.

CHRIS PÉREZ SAYS HE IS NOT TAKING SIDES

Selena’s widower, Chris Pérez, has also been pulled into the public conversation surrounding the dispute because of his connection to the 1995 Estate Properties Agreement.

Selena’s widower, Chris Pérez, has said he is remaining neutral in the dispute and asked social media users to stop involving him in the family conflict. (Credit: Isaac Castillo / Tejano Nation)

However, Pérez recently made clear that he does not want to be characterized as supporting either side of the current dispute.

In a statement shared on social media Wednesday, September 9, Pérez asked fans and social media commentators to stop tagging him in posts about the family dispute and said he was receiving what he described as false information.

Pérez’s position is particularly significant because the 1995 agreement established his own 25% net-profit interest in the entertainment properties covered by the contract. Earlier litigation over the agreement ultimately ended in a settlement in 2021.

WHY THE 1995 AGREEMENT MATTERS

The Estate Properties Agreement has played a central role in previous legal disputes surrounding Selena’s legacy.

During earlier litigation involving Abraham Quintanilla and Chris Pérez, court records and reporting detailed the agreement’s structure and the division of net profits among Pérez, Abraham, A.B. and Suzette.

Courthouse News previously reported that the agreement divided 25% of net profits among Pérez, Abraham, A.B. and Suzette. However, the legal structure is more complicated than simply dividing ownership of every asset associated with Selena into four equal parts.

The agreement gave Abraham significant control over the exploitation of Selena’s entertainment properties, while the 25% figures represented contractual profit interests.

That distinction is important as the new case moves forward.

A.B.’s lawsuit is now asking the court to examine how those contractual obligations were handled during the years following the transition of management responsibilities.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

With the petition now filed in Nueces County, the dispute will proceed through the Texas court system.

Suzette and the other defendants will have an opportunity to respond to the allegations. The court could ultimately consider financial records, the terms of the 1995 agreement, the responsibilities of the parties involved and the accounting of revenue generated by Selena’s entertainment properties.

For fans of Selena and the Tejano music community, the case represents another chapter in the complicated legal history surrounding the singer’s enduring legacy.

More than three decades after Selena’s death, her music, image and name continue to generate significant cultural and commercial interest.

Now, a dispute over the financial management of that legacy has officially become a court case.

Tejano Nation will continue to follow the case and report verified developments as they become available.

Follow Tejano Nation on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with everything Tejano. Listen to new Tejano music first with our Spotify playlists and iHeartRadio podcast.