Celebrity Probate Fails
High profile celebrities seem to have everything – successful careers, thousands of admirers, and an abundance of wealth. But believe it or not, not all celebrities properly plan for the future of their wealth or their loved ones. Let’s take a look at some examples.
1. Prince
Prince left no will, and as a result, his estate went through probate. Among the many people who came forward claiming an interest in his money, the probate court determined that his sister and five half-siblings would inherit his estate. The court battle cost millions of dollars and took six years to complete.
2. Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston created an estate plan in 1993, however, failed to update it before the time of her death in 2015. She left everything to her 19-year old daughter, Bobbi Brown.
According to her will, Bobbi received 10% of the estate at the age of 21 (which was about $2 million) and would have received another one-sixth at age of 25 and the remainder at age 30.
Unfortunately, Bobbi died unexpectedly in 2015 at the age of 22. Many have questioned whether Bobbi was old enough, and mature enough, to inherit that kind of money at her age – something that could have been addressed had Whitney taken the time to update her will.
Who would inherit the remainder of the trust after Bobbi’s death was another issue that was not addressed in the will.
3. Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton was the author of Jurassic Park. When he died, he left behind a daughter from a previous marriage and his surviving wife. His widow had signed a prenup and legally was not considered an heir when he died. She was, however, pregnant with his son.
Michael had a will in place, but it had not been updated to include his new son. There was a court battle between his daughter and his widow (on behalf of her son). In the end, his son did receive an inheritance from his father, but the cost of litigation reduced that amount significantly, took a long time to conclude, and likely damaged any ties between the family.
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Cherish Legal is an estate planning law firm based out of Rockford, Illinois. We are licensed to practice estate planning in Wisconsin and Illinois. We provide virtual estate planning services to families and legal counsel to small businesses located. Our services include: wills, trusts, power of attorney, estate plans, guardianship, trust administration, probate, and asset protection.
