Thursday 4 August 2022 09:58 PM How Naomi Judd's suicide exposed a lifetime of money squabbles and sibling ... trends now

Their story is worthy of a chart-topping country song.

Behind their unquestionable fame and fortune, the Judds have been beset by decades of dysfunction – abuse, addiction, and depression. 

And the tragic suicide of matriarch Naomi, 76, on April 30 – one day before she was due to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame – was the catalyst for more family drama.

This week it emerged that elder daughter Wynonna, 58, plans to contest her mother's will, which made no provision for her or her half-sister Ashley, 54.

Instead, Naomi appointed their stepfather, her husband of 33 years, Larry Strickland, as executor of her $25million fortune.

Strickland has no children, but Naomi doubled down on her decision to exclude her own, instructing that, if he were unable, the executorship should pass to his brother, Reginald.

Now, DailyMail.com can reveal, that Wynonna's decision to push back at her mother's wishes is driven by a deep-seated sense of injustice and simmering discord that has plagued the family for decades.

According to one well-placed source, 'With Wynonna, her mother leaving all of her wealth to Larry sticks in her craw.

'To Wy, her feeling is Naomi built her fortune at least partially on the back of Wynonna's own hard work.'

The source explained: 'She was the one who was the lead singer of The Judds dating back to the 1980s and took Naomi from working as a nurse to being a star.

'Naomi sang harmonies and kind of acted like the ringleader on stage, but it was Wynonna's amazing voice that pushed them over the top.'

The Judds were the most successful country singers of the 80s, winning five Grammys, nine CMAs and selling 20million records.

Two weeks before her shock death, Naomi stood on stage with Wynonna in a surprise reunion at the Country Music Awards. 

They sang a powerful song of reconciliation, written by Naomi – 'Love Can Build A Bridge.' Wishful thinking perhaps.

Because if love can build a bridge, then fame and fortune can burn it down.

Naomi's will makes no mention of leaving her share of the duo's song catalogue to the daughter who sang with her, meaning that whatever portion she owned will go to Strickland – another bitter pill for Wynonna to swallow.

She drew up her will in 2017, 'being of sound mind and disposing memory,' but, the source confirmed, 'Wynonna is still considering her options as far as contesting [it].'

DailyMail.com has also learned that Wynonna's belief that she is due 'a piece of the pie' has pitted her against her A-lister sibling, Ashley, casting their differences into stark relief and bringing old grievances to the fore.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, the source revealed that Ashley has sided with Strickland over her mother's decision.

'Ashley Judd has no problem with her late mother Naomi leaving her entire $25million fortune to her second husband Larry Strickland,' the insider said. 

'With Ashley it's never really been about the money. She has a net worth of some $14million but lives a relatively simple life.'

In contrast, the source added, the 'finances are near and dear,' to Wynonna, who has long had a troubled relationship with money, spending habits, and with her mother whom she called, 'my beloved enemy.'

It was Wynonna's fraught relationship with money that, one family source told Radar, lay behind Naomi's decision to leave her estate in Strickland's safe hands rather than leave any portion to her older daughter.

And, according to the source, Ashley believes that her mother 'knew what she was doing.'

Another source told DailyMail.com: 'Wynonna blew through literally tens of millions of dollars she earned with the Judds and as a solo artist.'

That spending was so extreme that in 2000 she was forced to hold a yard sale in her property in Leiper's Fork, Tennessee in a bid to raise funds. 

Four years later, still teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, she checked herself into a treatment center to address her 'money disorder.'

Speaking about her issues, Wynonna once admitted that her early days of poverty with Naomi – a single mother to her girls, living 'one paycheck from the streets,' for many years following the end of her first marriage – were hard to reconcile with the wealth of her later life. 

She said: 'I literally went from the outhouse to the White House. I traveled, I took friends, I rented jets. I loved the great rock-star life.'

Today, according to one well-placed source: 'Wynonna has gotten better at keeping her spending in check, but she's still not flush as she should be given all the money she's earned – Ashley is wealthier than her.'

Her hunger for money is also, DailyMail.com has learned, the reason Wynonna made the surprising decision to forge ahead with the previously scheduled farewell tour, The Judds – an 11-date affair that kicks off September 30.

The source said: 'Wynonna has been out there hustling for years as a solo act, but she plays casinos and small theaters for mostly modest paydays.

'The Judds are a much bigger draw than Wynonna by herself – this fall tour is playing at good-sized arenas and Wynonna stands to gain a lot better pay than she gets solo.'

The source continued: 'Of course with Naomi's death The Judds farewell tour was a solo affair for Wynonna, but she fixed that problem. 

'She called in some favors from some famous friends. So, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill and Brandi Carlisle among others are joining Wynonna at various shows to sing Naomi's harmony parts with Wy as she performs The Judds' biggest hits.'

Strickland welcomed Wynonna's decision when she announced it in May, saying: 'I am so happy that in this time of grief for us all, Wynonna has agreed to move forward with this tour as my sweet wife, Naomi, would have wanted her to do.'

But in solving one problem Wynonna has caused another, driving a wedge between her and her half-sister.

According to one source: 'Early on, Ashley believed she was going to be part of this Judds farewell tour, to join Wynonna on stage and offer up some remembrances of their mother. But it looks like she has been shut out by Wynonna.'

In fact, in the immediate aftermath of their mother's

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