Martin Luther King III and Bernice King say their lawsuit against their brother Dexter was necessary because "duty obligates us" to preserve the King legacy and the corporation that oversees the family's financial affairs.

"We love our brother, yet we cannot ignore our responsibility to ensure that the corporation we are all shareholders and directors of is properly managed," the two children of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said in a statement this weekend by their attorney, Jock Smith.

"Our right to obtain corporate documents that we have personally requested in the past few years, and more recently in the lawsuit that we have filed, have been continuously ignored," the statement said.

On July 10, Bernice and Martin III filed suit against Dexter King, claiming he improperly took money from the estate of their late mother, Coretta Scott King, and mishandled the funds of King Inc., the estate of Martin Luther King Jr. Dexter King is president and CEO of King Inc.

In an interview, Dexter King denied his siblings' allegations. He produced bank statements and other documents that he says show that he and his siblings have benefited equally from their parents' estates.

He said the disagreement between him and his siblings stem from an ugly public dispute they had over the sale of the King Center in Atlanta three years ago. The three have basically been "estranged" since then, he said.

"At the end of the day, I love my siblings and my family, but they have chosen the low road, to use personal vindictiveness ... to [address issues] that I am certain can be resolved otherwise," Dexter King said.

In their statement, Bernice and Martin III claim it is Dexter who has taken the low road.

"It is unfortunate that our brother continues to use the media to attack our character and expose personal business transactions," Martin III and Bernice said. "In spite of these efforts, we will remain on the high road and approach this difficult matter with dignity and respect."

Dexter King, a private person who typically avoids the media, said he decided to talk to a Cox Newspapers reporter because he wanted to rebut accusations "of being a thief."

"I'm very certain I'll be vindicated in the court of law, but the court of public opinion is another court," he said. "My integrity is in question here."

He said he hopes that he and his siblings can reconcile, but added that it won't be easy.

In the past, he said, his mother and his other sister, Yolanda, served as "peacekeepers" between the siblings. Coretta Scott King died two years ago. Yolanda King died last year.

Yolanda "would often say after my mother passed that [her] mission was to bring this family together again," Dexter King said. "I'm sad to say she left us without succeeding in that regard."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Ernie Suggs contributed to this report.