Country singer Wynonna Judd has sued her former stepfather over an unpaid mortgage dating to 1994, but his lawyer says the money was a gift, not a loan.

The Courier-Journal reports ( http://cjky.it/N4E1Dv) that Judd filed suit this week in Jefferson County Circuit Court in Louisville against Michael Ciminella. He's the ex-husband of Judd's mother, Naomi Judd, and father of actress Ashley Judd.

Wynonna Judd's lawsuit contends that Ciminella defaulted on a mortgage in the Old Louisville neighborhood where he lives. Records show that Judd's representatives wrote to Ciminella in September demanding principal and interest of $242,051.

Ciminella's lawyer, Jeffrey Thompson, said the money was not a loan but a gift and that Judd had never asked that it be repaid until now. He declined to discuss further details.