“Eliza, Where the Devil are My Slippers?”
Speaking of ironic endings, My Fair Lady’s estate is one of long-held sibling rivalry.
Zappo’s Founder kept Post-it Notes, but no Will
Tony Hsieh left a “sticky mess” of post-it notes, but no Will, and his estate is going to get complicated.
Prince’s Purple Rain Coming from the IRS
Sometimes feuds over a celebrity’s estate are with the IRS. Music legend Prince’s estate was embroiled in such a controversy over the value of his music publishing and recording interests, creating a potential $32,000,000 estate tax deficiency.
From H.L. Hunt to Tom Petty
Famous inheritance feuds pepper our history.
Looks Like “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” of Hangers-on
As the Godfather of Soul once sang, “Give it up, or turn it loose.” If only his family would take his advice and turn his Estate loose. Instead, the Estate of the late James Brown is a mess, even though he had an estate plan in place when he died. It appears some people want a piece of his pie, at the expense of Mr. Brown’s wishes, as reflected in his Last Will and Testament.
The Infamous Recluse and his Multitude of “Laughing” Heirs
Similar to the debacle we saw play out with respect to Prince’s estate, Howard Hughes’ death without a Last Will also engendered wild claims to his fortune and extensive litigation, the last of which is finally nearing resolution 34 years later. So what happened to all of Hughes’ money? Aside from the lawyers, various cousins and other relatives (now numbering about 475) inherited his vast estate. It was well-known that he didn’t want his estate falling into the hands of any distant relatives but without a Will, the distant cousins were his heirs under Texas law.