Famous Estate Planning Failures
NAME: Howard Hughes
DIED: April 5, 1976
AGE: 70
CAUSE: Kidney failure
ESTATE BLUNDER: Not leaving behind a will.
Over his lifetime, Howard Hughes’ wallet became one of the fattest of his time. When he died, there was one major problem: Hughes had no direct descendants or immediate family, and he didn’t leave behind a will.
A battle ensued between the temporary administrator of the Hughes estate, cousin and lawyer William Lummis, and those who ran the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. While the various parties were fighting it out, a couple of different wills surfaced, though eventually thrown out as fakes. Next, “wives” started emerging from Hughes’ past, taking advantage of his reclusive reputation to explain why no one had heard of them before.
After years of struggle trying to sort the people with legitimate claims from the fakers who were in it to try to grab some of the cash, a lot of the money did end up going to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute… and around 200 distant relatives.
(Source: TodayIFoundOut.com)
NAME: Thomas Kinkade
DIED: April 6, 2012
AGE: 54
CAUSE: Alcohol intoxication
ESTATE BLUNDER: Giving 2 handwritten notes with promises of money and a mansion to his girlfriend.
Kinkade’s reputation as the “Painter of Light,” with his popular images of candlelit country cottages and Christian symbolism, cratered in the aftermath of his death, both by the revelations that he was a regular fixture at local bars and that his marriage of 28 years had recently imploded.
Kinkade’s live-in girlfriend, Amy Pinto, became involved with Kinkade after his marriage broke up. After Kinkade died she revealed that she had two notes written by Kinkade directing that she receive his mansion as well as $10 million designated for a museum of his artwork.
Kinkade’s wife disputed the claim. After months of name calling and finger-pointing, lawyers for Nanette Kinkade and Amy Pinto reached a secret settlement. Lawyers would make no comment about the actual details of the settlement.
(Source: MercuryNews.com)
NAME: John Singleton
DIED: April 28, 2019
AGE: 51
CAUSE: Stroke
ESTATE BLUNDER: Not updating his will.
John Singleton was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor, best known for directing Boyz n the Hood (1991), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director, the first African American and youngest person to ever be nominated.
In a public squabble since Singleton suffered a stroke, which has only escalated since his death, Singleton’s mother, Sheila Ward, and his daughter Cleopatra are currently battling it out in court.
According to Singleton’s will, filed with the court, Sheila Ward was named the executor of the estate, but the will was drawn in 1993, at a time when only Singleton’s first daughter, Justice, was born. The will leaves all of his belongings to her. His alleged $35 million fortune is still being contested in court by his seven children, six of whom were not included in the will. (Source: The Grio)