An auction by Christie’s of nearly 350 personal items from Mr. Brown’s estate, originally scheduled for Thursday, is on hold, due to escalating arguments between the singer’s heirs.

The court-appointed trustees, Adele J. Pope and Robert L. Buchanan, want the auction to take place as planned, but on Wednesday, a state appeals court judge in South Carolina approved a surprise request by two former business managers,, for an emergency stay of the sale.

Mr. Dallas and Mr. Bradley, the two former business managers, are seeking to oust the current trustees and be legally reinstated as trustees. They contend in court filings that the current trustees are mismanaging the estate, even though last November, a judge in South Carolina ousted them as trustees after finding that they had mismanaged the estate.

Jasper M. Cureton, the appeals court judge, gave the current trustees until noon on Monday to explain why they should retain standing and why the sale should go forward. In a statement on Friday, Christie’s said it was confident that the sale would be held on schedule.

Posted: 07|12|08 at 6:55 am. Filed under: Auction News.