Aretha Franklin Left No Will Or Trust, $80 Million Estate Will Be Managed By Probate Court
Aretha Franklin may have lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on Aug. 16, but the legacy she left behind as the Queen of Soul will live on through her music and through the contributions she made to the music industry forever. Unfortunately, what she didn’t leave behind was a will or trust to help with the management of her $80 million estate, which includes the rights to many of the songs she made famous.
“I was after her for a number of years to do a trust,” said Los Angeles attorney Don Wilson, who represented Franklin in entertainment matters for the past 28 years. “It would have expedited things and kept them out of probate, and kept things private.”
Franklin is not the only celebrity who neglected to put a will or trust in place prior to death. Barry White, Amy Winehouse, Steve McNair, Martin Luther King, Jr., Kurt Cobain, Sonny Bono, Jimi Hendrix and, recently, Prince are just a few of the other celebrities who have died without a having a will or trust to protect their assets.
Without a will or trust, there is a great deal of uncertainty with regard to what will come of one’s estate. In Franklin’s case, it appears as though her four sons are in line to inherit their mother’s assets. However, without the proper paperwork in place, they will have to go through the grueling probate court process and will likely have a large portion of their inheritance taxed away.
Be In Control
Managing your assets after death becomes incredibly complicated for those without a will and, oftentimes, personal complications among family members will arise. Without a will, your possessions, property and money will be divvied out according to the law – not your wishes. In other words, you will not be able to control who gets what after you die. While this may not sound like a big deal right now, imagine a scenario in which you couldn’t give a portion of your assets to someone special or to a special organization as an expression of your love and gratitude. Instead, the court is left to slice, dice and distribute your estate in accordance with the law.
Specifically, establishing a will or trust will empower you by:
Giving You Power Over Your Estate Distribution
With a legally-binding will or trust, you (not the courts) will get to decide how your estate will be managed upon your death. A will or trust also minimizes fights over your estate, ultimately making the process easier for everybody involved.
Helping You Avoid A Lengthy Probate Process
Having a will in place dramatically speeds up the probate process by giving the court information on how your estate should be distributed. Without a will, the court will determine your estate distribution without your input which can bring about unnecessary postponements.
Failure to update your will can be just as worrisome. Imagine you put a will in place with your first marriage but neglected to update it when you married again. Upon your death, the court would have no choice but to follow the wishes outlined in your last known will. That means your ex-spouse could be inheriting your assets, leaving your current spouse empty-handed.
A Top Priority
People cite various reasons for not putting their affairs in order sooner. From misperceptions with regard to cost to time constraints and everything in between, but the truth is, if you keep putting this task off, the results could be really, really bad. Taking the time to sit down with an estate planning expert is the best way to take charge of the management of your assets before and after death. Tomorrow is never promised so make creating a will your top priority. Email Rea & Associates to learn more about the importance of estate planning and why having a well-crafted will in place is necessary.
By Inez Bowie, CPA, CSEP (Marietta office)
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