Dolly Parton's estate says nephew used barbed wire to evade service

A restraining order barring Dolly Parton's nephew Bryan Seaver from coming within 1,000 feet of employees and partners of the company managing her estate will stay in place until October 20, after a Nashville judge delayed a hearing to let him hire a lawyer.

Chancellor I'Ashea L. Myles granted the delay on October 6, moving a hearing that had been set for October 9, Law Commentary reported. Seaver asked for more time on October 2, saying the attorney he wanted could not meet him until October 5. The temporary restraining order remains in effect while the case moves forward.

The case was brought by She's Alive LLC, the company that manages Parton's business interests, whose sole manager is Danny Nozell, her longtime manager. It accuses Seaver, her former head of security, of a "campaign of threats" to "extract money" from the singer's business interests, Rolling Stone reported. The suit also names his private security company. Parton died on August 25 at age 80.

Three attempts, one photograph

Lawyers for the estate told the court that a process server tried three times to reach Seaver at his home in Fairview, Tennessee. On one attempt the server counted four cars in the driveway, and no one answered the door. By a later visit, the October 5 filing said, a no-trespassing sign stood in the front yard and barbed wire had been draped across the handrails leading to the front door.

The photograph attached to that filing appears to show wire strung across the railings of a five-step porch, tagged with strips of yellow caution tape, according to Rolling Stone, which obtained the response. The magazine said Seaver did not reply to its question about whether the display was a Halloween decoration.

"Mr. Seaver attempted to evade service of process, and this court should not reward that behavior," the estate's lawyers wrote. They also argued that Seaver's security company missed a deadline to challenge the emergency restraining order, and that the order should therefore be converted into an injunction covering both the company and Seaver himself, as its chief.

WKRN reported a "No Media" sign along Seaver's driveway, two "no trespassing" signs, and what appeared to be barbed wire wrapped in caution tape blocking the stairs leading up to the front door.

What the judge cited

Myles granted the temporary restraining order on September 23, ruling that Seaver and his company show a "present and continuing disruption and threat" to She's Alive, ABC News reported. The order also requires them to stay off private property controlled by the company and to refrain from disruptive or harassing conduct.

In granting it, the judge pointed to a series of emails and other communications that she said appeared to pair "threats with demands for payment." She wrote that the statements mattered "not merely because of their language in isolation," but because they accompanied threats directed at specific people and business interests connected to Parton.

One message cited in the ruling was allegedly sent on August 19, about a week before Parton died. "I'm going to destroy the entire brand if you don't get these (Dollywood business partners) out of our bit," Seaver allegedly wrote.

The judge also cited a message in which Seaver purportedly threatened to start a podcast devoted to damaging Parton's brand partnerships unless he was compensated, and statements that invoked "his claimed access to weapons, experience with violence, and intention to retaliate." Another message, sent after Parton's death, referred to an arms sale.

I just sold 29 million dollars' worth of ammo to Haiti. I'm not exactly a media person, Danny. I'm literally an international arms dealer and mercenary.

Court filings say Seaver previously worked for private military contractors before providing security for Parton and her properties through Squadron Augmented Protection Services, the company that is also a defendant in the case.

Seaver's side of the dispute

Seaver has denied threatening anyone. In an earlier statement to TMZ, reported by Rolling Stone, he said his messages to Nozell had been taken out of context. "I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments," he said, adding that "nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by."

He has also disputed the grounds for his firing. "I was fired. After the estate negotiated with me and my company for services in perpetuity and agreed to that service provision from my company," he said in a September 23 statement to ABC News. "A week later they fired me for these contrived 'threats.'"

Seaver told ABC News in an email in October that the restraining order prevents him from speaking publicly about the case.

The estate opposed his request for more time, arguing that his alleged efforts to avoid service undercut it and that his security company, as a corporate defendant, cannot represent itself. Myles gave him the additional time anyway.

The businesses at issue

The business at issue includes the Dollywood amusement park in Sevier County, Tennessee, the SongTeller hotel in Nashville and the Life of Many Colors museum, which opened on September 29, according to WSB-TV. Parton, who was known for her entrepreneurial ventures as well as her music, left a multimillion-dollar estate that includes the amusement park, ABC News reported.

She's Alive LLC, which manages Parton's professional property and business interests, was created on September 9, after her death, CBC News reported. The suit accuses Seaver of interfering with business relationships through "threats, intimidation, and coercion." It was filed in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville.

Parton and Carl Dean, her husband of nearly 60 years, had no children, and Dean died in March 2025, according to ABC News.

Seaver was removed from his security role on September 15, according to a letter from lawyers for She's Alive that was filed in the case and obtained by Rolling Stone. The letter said the termination did not affect his separate interest as a beneficiary of a Parton trust.

Seaver had been Parton's head of security for more than 20 years before he was terminated in September, People reported, and he took over the role from his father, Larry Seaver. He is the son of Parton's sister Cassie Parton, and he announced the singer's death in a video posted to her Instagram account that drew millions of reactions.

The allegations remain contested, and the temporary restraining order stays in place until the court takes up the estate's request to convert it, Law Commentary reported.

Questions the filings leave open

Seaver has disputed the estate's characterization of his communications and maintained that they did not amount to threats. He has said the messages were taken out of context and that he stands by most of his comments.

Seaver has since retained attorneys Dominic J. Leonardo and James L. Collier, who have entered appearances for him and his company, court records show. A representative for Parton's estate did not immediately reply to ABC News, the network said in its account of the October filing.

The hearing on whether to convert the restraining order into an injunction is set for October 20 before Chancellor Myles in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville.