Celebrity estates are often used as examples of the good and bad when it comes to estate planning. The wealth they leave behind will almost certainly draw out any potential claim that can be made and test the strength of post death plans. The most newsworthy estates are usually those that provoke a legal battle between heirs such as in the case of Ernie Banks and Robin Williams. Then there are the poorly planned such as that of Phillip Seymour Hoffman who left his entire estate to a long time girlfriend that lead to a huge estate tax hit and no guarantees his children would ever receive support. But not all celebrities will have feuding heirs as in the case of Paul Walker whose estate was properly planned with his child protected and his fortune split in an equitable manner. In the end, let the lessons of the celebrity estates can lead to some good if they instruct on the dos and don’ts of planning and what problems might be encountered.
See Megan Elliot, 7 Estate Planning Lessons from Celebrities, Cheat Sheet, September 29, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
