On the same day she signed her Will in 1993,
Diana wrote a “letter of wishes”. When she
was killed in a Paris car accident in 1997, Diana’s estate was worth over $30
million, and the letter of wishes could be interpreted to mean the godchildren
listed were due 25% of her estate – almost half a million dollars each. Instead, as “Tatler” magazine reported, they
were given “tacky mementoes”. Now, a
dispute has arisen between her trustees and some of the children named in the
Letter of Wishes. Some parents have
described the outcome as “an outrageous betrayal” of Diana’s wishes.
Lesson learned: Most states require gifts to be listed in your
Will. No letter of wishes has the same
force in law as a valid Will.
When his baseball career ended, the
“Splendid Splinter” became an avid fisherman and his Will said that his remains
were to be cremated and his ashes scattered in the ocean off Florida. But, when death came to Williams in 2002,
his body was swiftly transferred to be frozen in cryonic suspension. Son John Henry Williams and daughter Claudia
Williams apparently planned for Williams’ DNA to be available for future
cloners and gene manipulators, at which point they might be worth an awful
lot. But that’s for the future. The reality of today is that the feud led to
a family split. And there was a very
expensive legal action. This ended only
when eldest daughter Bobby-Jo Williams Ferrell (who thought her father’s Will
should be respected) had to agree a deal because she couldn’t keep paying the
lawyers’ costs to keep it going.
Lesson learned: Make your wishes absolutely clear in writing. And tell your closest family what you want,
just in case you die.
The Playboy Playmate, who died suddenly on 8th February 2007, was working in a
Houston topless dancing club when she met Texan oil billionaire J. Howard
Marshall II. 3 years later, in 1994, they
married. He was 89. Anna Nicole was 26. 14 months later, her husband died, and Anna
Nicole became locked in a battle over her husband's estate with both his sons. The emotional cost is unknowable, while the
lawyers’ fees have already consumed tens of millions of dollars. It all began with a 10-day court battle over
whether there should be a burial or a cremation – and it’s gone on from
there. Although Anna Nicole was awarded
$88 million in 2002, stepson E. Pierce Marshall later clawed it back in the Supreme
Court. In 2006, Anna Nicole won the right to appeal this decision. E. Pierce Marshall didn't accept that Anna Nicole, a model and reality TV star, should get one cent of his father’s fortune. It all became more complicated when E. Pierce Marshall himself died suddenly in June 2006 from an aggressive infection. Following Anna Nicole's sudden death in 2007, there is raft of legal issues outstanding, not least whether Anna Nicole made a Will setting out her wishes on who should receive her estate.
Lesson learned: If you re-marry and your new spouse and your
children don’t get on, sit down with all of them together and explain what you
want. This will ensure that everyone
fully understands your wishes. And
never try to disinherit the person you’re married to.
When the Johnson & Johnson magnate died
in 1986, his children couldn’t accept his Will. It dictated that his third wife, Barbara (once a chambermaid)
should inherit his entire wealth of $500 million. His children went to law, the lawyers fees ran up to $10 million
and then the court found that Barbara should receive almost everything anyway!
Lesson learned: No matter how hard it is to take, if your
parent re-marries, you’re going to have to at least share the estate with your
parent’s new partner if your parent dies.
When the 62-year-old pop
star-turned-Congressman and former husband of world-famous entertainer Cher was
killed in a skiing accident, he didn’t have a valid Will. All kinds of Court orders were needed to
deal with claims on his estate, including one for back alimony payments lodged
by Cher. When Sean Machu emerged and lodged
his claim to be Sonny’s long-lost son, he was seeking a share of Sonny’s $1.6
million of assets. Executors were
forced to act to protect the interests of Sonny’s blood relatives.
Lesson learned: Pay your debts or your creditors will get
their share of your estate. And always,
always, have a valid Will.
Susan Hayward was a star of Hollywood’s golden
age and was nominated 5 times for the Oscar for Best Actress before she finally
won it for her role in “I Want To Live!”.
When Hayward added to her Will a single page codicil in her own
handwriting, she brought grave problems down upon her estate. Having spelled out how she wanted to cut her
sister out of her Will, the glamorous Miss Hayward should have known that when
the Will was eventually published after her death in 1975, her sister was one
of the first to file a claim for a bigger share.
Lesson learned: If you want to change your Will or
disinherit a close blood relative, do it in your Will – never in a codicil!
Following the 1996 Tyson-Sheldon
heavyweight boxing match in Las Vegas, rapper Tupac was shot four times while
standing up through the open sun roof of a black BMW 750 sedan. He died 6 days later. He was just 25 years old. Surprisingly, although he’d already been
shot before during an armed robbery which cost him $40,000 of jewelry, there was no
Will. Perhaps not surprisingly, the estate of this talented young man (whose fortune has grown by leaps and bounds since his death) was besieged by a series of claims from
people who felt they had reasons to be entitled to a share of his wealth.
Lesson learned: We all need a Will, but if you’re making
large amounts of money or you have evidence that your life is under threat,
don’t delay another day – get a Will right away!
She was a
billionairess whose fortune was built on her family’s tobacco interests, but
she failed to heed her father’s deathbed advice to “Trust no one”. Before Doris died in 1993 at the age of 80,
she made several sets of dramatic changes to her Will. These included naming Bernard Lafferty, her
butler, as her co-executor and a substantial beneficiary. Sadly, Lafferty was an alcoholic and a drug
addict, and her Will was not surprisingly subject to major challenges from
relatives. Indeed, the court finally
approved a settlement removing Lafferty from his position of trust. These legal battles generated over $50
million in fees for the lawyers, while no money was going into the foundation
that Doris had intended to become one of America’s largest charities.
Lesson learned: Make your final Will long before you expect
to die. And if you ever change your mind about what your Will says, add a codicil or replace
it altogether with a new one containing updates that accurately reflect your changed situation.
Leaving it till the last moment increases the risk that the Will might
be contested and that the wishes expressed in it might not be carried out.
Having graduated from UCLA with a degree in
psychology and introduced her own line in high-fashion sportswear, FloJo might
have been expected to make a valid Will – and keep it in a place where it was
easy to find. After all, she gave so
much to win 3 Olympic Gold Medals at Seoul in 1988. When she died, at age 38 of a heart attack, no Will could be
found. Her mother and other relatives
argued that FloJo did make a Will, but FloJo’s possessions had to be divided up
strictly according to State law, without regard to need or to the legendary
FloJo’s desires.
Lesson learned: If you make a Will, keep it somewhere safe –
where you know it will be found as soon as you die. Tell your Executor where it is and, if you want, give your
Executor a copy to keep safe. This
prevents any chance of a repeat of what happened to FloJo’s family.
When they
draw up a list of who made people laugh most in the 20th century, W.
C. Fields is sure to be near the top. When
he died, Fields wanted to be cremated, but they buried him. So the poor man had to be dug up to be
cremated – as he’d instructed in his Will.
In fact, for a dead man, W. C. Fields caused quite a stir. He had hundreds of bank accounts, not all of
which were found. One of the witnesses
to the Will was cross-examined at some length, and a woman claiming to be his
ex-wife surfaced and argued she was owed a share.
Lesson learned: Make your wishes clear in your Will – and,
just in case you die unexpectedly, tell your closest family whether you want to
be buried or cremated, so they know what to do. And always keep a list of your bank accounts readily available
for your Executor to find.
The black guitarist and former paratrooper
moved to England before bursting on to the rock stage at world class level in
1967. His most famous music? “Purple Haze”. Sadly, not even a series of chart hits nor abuse of his body rang
enough bells in Hendrix’ head to make sure he had a Will. When he died in 1970 from inhaling his own
vomit after taking 9 times the normal dose of sleeping pills, Hendrix inadvertently
started several wars. These included
paternity claims, disputes over unreleased, unmixed music and, of course, an
epic struggle over what the rock guitarist left for his loved ones.
Lesson learned: Every one of us needs a Will. But, if you’re putting your own life in
danger, or if you’re making pots of money, you need a Will more than anyone!
Liza Minelli’s mother was a world-famous
talent from childhood and worked for 45 of the 47 years she lived. After a career in which the star of “The
Wizard of Oz” made countless movies, starred in 30 of her own TV shows, made
1100 theater, nightclub and concert performances and recorded nearly 100
singles and more than a dozen albums, it’s tragic to record that Judy died
leaving absolutely nothing. Most of the
money she did make was seized by the IRS for back taxes. They also seized her home. Even though her Will was packed with
detailed bequests, not one of them could be fulfilled because Garland’s estate
was in fact submerged beneath the weight of her debts. Everything had to be sold off to pay her
creditors. Even in death, Judy
Garland’s magnetism was still powerful. Her funeral was attended by over 20,000 fans.
Lesson learned: Life insurance can be an effective way to deal with debts
left behind on death. Insurance professionals can identify the best ways to achieve this.
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