Whitney Houston

Bobby Brown has filed a lawsuit claiming his ex-wife Whitney Houston is keeping him from seeing their teenage daughter.

In a suit filed last week in Orange County, California Superior Court, the R & B singer said "I have not seen or spoken to my daughter since early June and I have no prospect of speaking to her anytime soon due to Whitney's actions."

Brown has been trying to overturn a judicial decision to nullify the couple's marriage and grant Houston sole custody of 14-year-old Bobbi Kristina.

During a court hearing in April, Houston testified that Brown was "unreliable" and that she didn't need spousal or child support. Brown disputes the claim, saying he was the girl's primary caretaker when they lived together in Atlanta.

When Houston moved to Orange County to undergo drug rehabilitation, Brown said he paid about $10,000 in hotel expenses for his wife and daughter. "At the same time, I basically lived out of my car," he said.

In other court filings obtained by the syndicated TV show Extra, Houston disputes that she is keeping Brown and their daughter apart and says she "would like him to be involved" in Bobbi Kristina's life.

Houston, 44, and Brown, 38, wed in 1992. Their stormy 14-year marriage was marked by Brown's arrests on drug and alcohol charges, while Houston twice underwent drug rehab programs. Their divorce was finalized on April 24.