Teddy Pendergrass. (Photo: John Mathew Smith/www.celebrity-photos.com via Wikimedia Commons)

R&B legend Teddy Pendergrass sang in the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes 1972 hit "If You Don't Know Me by Now" that "we only act like children when we argue, fuss, and fight."

But that message seems to have been lost on Pendergrass' family members fighting over his will in court. The legal battle over Pendergrass' estate has been raging since his death in 2010 and has now entered the phase of fighting over attorney fees.

This most recent development comes in the offshoot case filed by Pendergrass' widow, Joan Pendergrass, against his son, defendant Theodore Pendergrass II, to recover $850,000 in costs from the fight over Teddy Pendergrass' will in state court. On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Carol Wells of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ordered that the widow turn over several emails between her and her lawyers to the defendants as part of discovery.

According to Wells, the vast majority of the emails are protected by attorney-client privilege, but a few—including emails in which Joan Pendergrass requests a reduction in her attorney's hourly rate—are fair game because they are not technically requests for legal advice.

Joan Pendergrass' attorney, Clifford Haines, said in an email Tuesday that he and his client have "a significant disagreement with Judge Wells."

He continued, "We are weighing our options in light of nature of the disclosure at issue."

Pendergrass II represents himself and could not be reached for comment. His former attorney, Timothy Holman, who is also a defendant in the lawsuit and who sought the emails, declined to comment.

Teddy Pendergrass was the lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes from 1970 to 1975 and is considered a pioneer of Philadelphia Soul. After leaving the band, he embarked on a solo career in 1976 and achieved phenomenal success in putting out five consecutive platinum albums.

However, tragedy struck in 1982 when, at the age of 32, Pendergrass was involved in a car accident in Philadelphia that left him a paraplegic. Despite his injury, Pendergrass returned to music and continued to record albums into the 1990s.

He died of respiratory failure in 2010, and the bitter legal battle among his family ensued.

After a judge sided with Joan Pendergrass in the underlying will dispute, she sued Pendergrass II along with his sisters, Ladonna Hollerway and Tishia Burnett, who were let out of the case last year.

In her lawsuit, Joan Pendergrass claimed the late singer's son forged a will that left him the sole beneficiary of his father's estate. She also alleged Pendergrass II's lawyer, Holman, knew the will was a forgery.

Referred to in the complaint as Theodore Jr., Pendergrass II "attempted to circumvent his father's will by producing a will that left decedent's entire estate to himself rather than to plaintiff, the decedent's wife, Joan Pendergrass," the complaint said. "The will Theodore, Jr. presented, which temporally followed the will now in place, was judicially determined to be a forgery after protracted litigation in the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Orphans Court."

In a response filed by Holman, the attorney said he "did not propagate an illusion or fantasy, nor did he attempt to perpetrate a fraud on plaintiff or the court. Holman did not force plaintiff to undergo years of turmoil or anguish, did not improperly scrutinize plaintiff's relationship with her late husband or force plaintiff to spend money on legal fees."