We all enter the process of estate planning with the intention to take care of important business. What if your estate planning goes awry? Read these cautionary tales of what not to do!
NAME: Sonny Bono
DIED: June 23, 2011
AGE: 62
CAUSE: Blunt trauma
ESTATE BLUNDER: Not writing a will
Sonny Bono was a singer, songwriter, restauranteur, and former Congressman who died in a tragic ski accident in 1998 at the age of 62. His net worth was just under $2 million at the time of his death, yet Bono did not have a will.
Apparently, he meant to have one drawn up but simply never got around to it. (Number 1 mistake of estate planning!) Sadly, his fourth wife and surviving spouse, Mary Bono, spent years battling to be the executor of his estate. She also faced lawsuits filed by anyone and everyone who wanted a piece of the pie.
Cher, Sonny’s second wife, sued for a share of his estate seeking $1.6 million in unpaid alimony. As if Cher’s lawsuit wasn’t odd enough, a secret love child made his own claim on Sonny’s estate. Then 35- year-old Sean Machu came forward claiming to be Bono’s illegitimate son. (Source: McKenzie Law Firm LLC)
NAME: Ginger Baker
DIED: October 6, 2019
AGE: 80
CAUSE: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
ESTATE BLUNDER: Giving his young wife, 42 years his junior, control of his finances.
His wild lifestyle and reputation were so infamous they almost eclipsed the late Ginger Baker’s brilliance as a drummer. And now it seems the Cream star is still at it – causing mayhem from beyond the grave in a family row. A fight over his will is now inevitable with Baker’s wife, Kudzai, suggesting only a small percentage of his estate will go to his three children, all of whom claim Baker’s personality changed after meeting Kudzai in South Africa in 2006. Kudzai claims Ginger’s records reap as much as £1 million a year and he rewrote his will to ensure it goes to her. But his daughter, Nettie, denied there was a fortune, saying: “He was living on a state pension of £150 a week.” Ginger’s son, Kofi, told Rolling Stone: “Kudzai’s emailed that she’s cutting us out of the will. I don’t think there’s much money.” (Source: DailyMail UK)
NAME: Teddy Pendergrass
DIED: January 20, 2012
AGE: 59
CAUSE: Colon cancer
ESTATE BLUNDER: Not keeping a copy of his will with a nominated executor or attorney
R&B legend Teddy Pendergrass sang in the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes 1972 hit “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” that “we only act like children when we argue, fuss, and fight.” But that message seems to have been lost on Pendergrass’ family members fighting over his will in court. The legal battle over Pendergrass’ estate has been raging since his death in 2010 and has now entered the phase of fighting over attorney fees. In her original lawsuit, his widow, Joan Pendergrass, claimed the late singer’s son forged a will that left him the sole beneficiary of his father’s estate. She also alleged Pendergrass II’s lawyer, Holman, knew the will was a forgery. This most recent development comes in the offshoot case filed by Pendergrass’ widow against his son to recover $850,000 in costs from the fight over Teddy Pendergrass’ will in state court. (Source: P.J. D’Annunzio of Law.com)