OT: Five famous people who died without a will or estate plan: trouble for their heirs

I really have to believe that all of us here have already seen to preparing a will and an estate plan for our heirs, and have already filed these documents with the appropriate authorities.

Well, I certainly have, and I have also set up a revocable trust with my son, my sole heir, and have had all of the legal matters checked out and approved by my estate lawyer.

The reason this is on my mind right now is because I was recently cleaning out some old files when I came across an old newsletter from the local bank & trust where my legal documents are kept.

A regular publication, the newsletter would include in each issue stories of people doing estate planning right -- and sometimes wrong.

This particular issue that I was holding in my hand had an article about five famous people who had died without having prepared a will or estate plan, and all the trouble that caused their heirs.

Sort of a "word to the wise" type of article, and pointing out that sometimes even the famous, and possibly wealthy, making dying without a will even more problematic, can make this mistake.

Here are the stories of these five famous persons, presented now as cautionary tales, with the lesson: don't make this mistake yourself.

(I think my above-referenced institution, the Community Bank and Trust of Florida here in Gainesville, would be okay with my extensive posting here of their newsletter text, especially since I am now citing them as the source).

(And the information below was current as of the time of the newsletter, which was January 2019).

ARETHA FRANKLIN

The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, died in 2018, leaving behind a score of wonderful music and countless memories. But it appears Ms. Franklin died without a will or estate plan in place. Her four sons filed documents in the Oakland County (Michigan) Probate Court listing themselves as interested parties, while Ms. Franklin's niece asked the court to appoint her as personal representative of the estate. All of this information is available to the public. Her estate will be distributed according to the laws of her state of residence (Michigan). In addition, creditors will have a chance to make claims against her estate and may get paid before any of her heirs. And if she owned property in more than one state (according to public records, she did), then probate will likely have to opened in each state where she owned property (called ancillary probate). The settling of her estate could drag on for years at a potentially high financial cost.

PRINCE (THE MUSICIAN)

Prince Rogers Nelson, who was better known as Prince, died in 2016. He was 57 years old and still making incredible music and entertaining millions of fans throughout the world. The first filing in the Probate Court for Carver County, Minnesota, was by a woman claiming to be the sister of Prince, asking the court to appoint a special administrator because there was no will or other testamentary documents. As of November 2018, there have been hundreds of court filings from prospective heirs, creditors, and other "interested parties." There will be no private administration of Prince's estate, as the entire ongoing proceeding is open and available to anyone for scrutiny.

PABLO PICASSO

He died in 1973 at the ripe old age of 91, apparently leaving no will or other testamentary instructions. He left behind nearly 45,000 works of art, rights and licensing deals, real estate, and other assets. The division of his estate assets took six years and included seven heirs. The settlement among his nearest relatives cost an estimated $ 30 million in legal fees and other related costs.

HOWARD HUGHES

(This one is probably better known)

The administration of the estate of Howard Hughes made headlines for several years following his death in 1976. Along the way, bogus wills were offered, people claiming to be his wives came forward, as did countless alleged relatives. Three states, Nevada, California and Texas, claimed to be responsible for the distribution of his estate. Ultimately, by 1983, his estimated $ 2.5 billion estate was split among some 22 "relatives" and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

And surprisingly, considering that he was a lawyer,

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

One of America's greatest presidents, he was also a lawyer. Yet when he met his untimely and tragic death at the hands of John Wilkes Booth in 1865, he died intestate, without a will or other testamentary documents. On the day of his death, Lincoln's son, Robert, asked Supreme Court Justice David Davis to assist in handling his father's financial affairs. Davis ultimately was appointed as the administrator of Lincoln's estate. It took more than two years to settle his estate, which was divided between his surviving widow and two sons.

Again, I strongly suspect that all of us here have already made sure that all of our legal matters are settled and in place. But if you have not, there should still be time for you to do so.

Contact an appropriate legal person that you have confidence in, and see to getting your legal issues settled. Do it now.

Doing so may well enable your heirs to avoid the hassles the people in the above stories experienced.

We did ours back in 2014 before husband was diagnosed. We took it step farther as my brothers and sisters are greedy vultures. I wanted to make sure there would be no issues. So, 50/50 to our kids and the house in trust. Also, all required legal documents, in case. In the unlikely event our whole family passed at once, the whole estate would go to our favorite charity.
I have always handled all the finances so I also had to make up the "death" folder so he would know.
It did bring me peace of mind knowing we covered everything.
Thank you for the reminder !

Mattam,

I've wondered about that very thing. Wife's brother passed a few years ago and left no will or instructions. He was thrice divorced with three adult children. He also had a live in girlfriend of 30+ years. It got ugly. Lawyers got involved. The three children inherited everything except the house (maybe it was in both of their names). He was no dummy, so why had he not prepared for that eventuality? Was it out of spite? Was it just fear of admitting his mortality? No idea. Just struck me as a dumb thing for a smart guy to do.

There is no requirement in life to have a Will or to leave anyone any money. There is a certain satisfaction knowing upon your death that people are going to argue over your estate.

As Vince mentioned, Transfer of Death (TOD) for brokerage/IRA accounts and Payable on Death (POD) for bank accounts are very efficient ways to take care of simple estate planning and avoid complicated wills, trusts, and probate. However, for those with complicated financial and/or family arrangements, trusts and 30 page wills still have their place. For example, providing for grandchildren can be quite conditional depending on their age and parents situation.

In MN, property deeds can be handled in a similar manner with the county where title transfers on death. If you have the time and some spare cash, vehicle titles can be handled in a similar fashion.

I only point this out since TOD's and POD's do not require wills, lawyers, or much contemplation about death. Just a little bit of work establishing primary and secondary beneficiaries for the on-line and/or paper forms. I reconciled all of this after I retired and my PCa diagnosis such that I consolidated and simplified my financial situation to a point where the list is pretty short now and easily understood with joint, primary and secondary situations clearly summarized on one page.

This still leaves all the personal property and possessions for the family and friends to argue and fight about but not the money.

Post Edited (Mumbo) : 5/14/2023 11:50:10 AM (GMT-8)

Besides leaving a will, it is important how that will is set up. My father had a long lost great aunt, who specified certain monetary amounts to go to various heirs, and my father to get the leftovers, which was probably $500 or so when she created the will. When she died, the leftovers amounted to upwards of $200k (in 1974), and the other heirs weren't to happy that the bulk of the estate's value went to my dad.