Will the Inheritance You Leave Be a Blessing or an Albatross?

June 25, 2014
Rock musician Sting recently announced that his children will not inherit his estimated $300 million fortune, saying that these riches are “albatrosses around their necks.” The product of a British working class background, Sting is currently one of England’s wealthiest musicians, but says that he will not be passing that fortune on to his six…
Read More →

Law and Disorder: The Jerry Orbach Estate Battle

April 4, 2014
Jerry Orbach, who starred as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the popular “Law and Order” television series, died a decade ago, but a battle is brewing over his Chase bank account, according to a recent story in the New York Post. The Chase bank account in dispute belongs to Orbach’s Mingoya Productions company, and is currently…
Read More →

Another Actor’s Estate Plan Screwed Up By His Lawyer

March 14, 2014
Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman’s will has been filed for probate and provides a cautionary tale when it comes to estate planning mistakes. Here are four things he could have done to correct them: Create a Revocable Living Trust.  Hoffman was a public figure who valued his privacy.  Yet by creating a will instead of…
Read More →

5 Fast & Furious Estate Planning Lessons from Paul Walker’s Estate

February 12, 2014
Paul Walker, who starred in the Fast & Furious movie franchise, died tragically in a high speed car accident in Los Angeles last November at the age of 40.  His estate was opened at the end of January in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara probate court, revealing that he left assets…
Read More →

Learn From the Expensive Mistakes & Smart Decisions Made By Actor James Gandolfini In Planning for His Estate

July 17, 2013
James Gandolfini, the actor best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano on HBO’s The Sopranos, died suddenly last month while on vacation in Italy.  His will is already on the Internet, available for everyone to read – which is the first lesson we should all take away from what he did and did not…
Read More →

6 Cases When a Trust is Better Than a Will

May 8, 2013
A will is one of the most basic estate planning documents, and everyone should have one to make sure that there is no question about what would happen to your assets and kids if something happens to you.  But there are some cases when having a trust in addition to a will is imperative; here…
Read More →

What You Can Learn From Three-Time NYC Mayor Ed Koch’s Will About Your Estate Planning

April 3, 2013
Three-time New York City Mayor Ed Koch died on Feb. 1, leaving an estate estimated between $10-$11 million.  And it’s a good thing that “Hizzoner” loved governing, because one-quarter of his estate will be going to the state and federal governments. During his tenure as Mayor, Koch was famous for asking people on the street,…
Read More →

What We Can Learn From Downton Abbey About Estate Planning

March 6, 2013
Downton Abbey – the PBS drama about the fortunes and misfortunes of an aristocratic British family in the early 20th century that has taken American audiences by storm – gets most of its gripping plot twists as the result of a number of bad estate planning moves.  For example (Spoiler Alert: these include references to…
Read More →

Celebrity Estate Planning

Stephen “tWitch” Boss Dies Without a Will

Stephen Laurel Boss, also known as “tWitch,” was an American DJ, hip-hop dancer, choreographer, television producer, and actor whose personality lit up the stage on So You Think You Can Dance and as a producer and frequent guest host on…

Anne Heche Dies With Conflict Around Her Will, Leaving Her Sons & Estate In Legal Limbo—Part 2

Actress Anne Heche died this August following a tragic car accident, leaving behind two young sons: Homer Heche Laffoon, age 20, and Atlas Heche Tupper, age 13.  Last week, in part one, we covered the way uncertainty around Heche’s estate…

Anne Heche Dies With Conflict Around Her Will, Leaving Her Sons & Estate In Legal Limbo—Part 1

Actress Anne Heche died this August following a tragic car accident in which she plowed her vehicle into a West Los Angeles home, where it burst into flames. After being pulled from the wreckage, the Emmy Award-winning actress was hospitalized…

A Not-So-Happy Accident: Bob Ross’s Estate Planning Failures —Part 2

As the host of the wildly popular The Joy of Painting TV series on PBS, Bob Ross became a pop-culture icon, who was equally famous for his giant head of hair, soothing baritone voice, and folksy demeanor as he was…

A Not-So-Happy Accident: Bob Ross’s Estate Planning Failures —Part 1

As the host of the wildly popular The Joy of Painting TV series on PBS, Bob Ross became a pop-culture icon, who was equally famous for his giant head of hair, soothing baritone voice, and folksy demeanor as he was…

Legendary Rapper DMX Dies With No Will, Millions in Debt, and 15 Children—Part 2

Legendary hip hop artist DMX—born Earl Simmons—passed away on April 9 at age 50 after suffering a massive heart attack a week earlier at his home in White Plains, New York. The heart attack was reportedly triggered by a cocaine…

Legendary Rapper DMX Dies With No Will, Millions in Debt, and 15 Children—Part 1

Legendary hip hop artist DMX—born Earl Simmons—passed away on April 9 at age 50 after suffering a massive heart attack a week earlier at his home in White Plains, New York. The heart attack was reportedly triggered by a cocaine…

Britney Spears’ Conservatorship: The Vital Importance Of Incapacity Planning—Part 2

Since the age of 16, when she burst onto the charts with her debut single, “…Hit Me Baby One More Time,” Britney Spears has been one of the world’s most famous and beloved pop stars. Yet despite her massive fame…

Britney Spears’ Conservatorship: The Vital Importance Of Incapacity Planning—Part 1

Since the age of 16, when she burst onto the charts with her debut single, “…Hit Me Baby One More Time,” Britney Spears has been one of the world’s most famous and beloved pop stars. Yet despite her massive fame…

Aretha Franklin’s Estate Planning Haunts Her Family —Part 2

Nearly three years have passed since Aretha Franklin, known as the “Queen of Soul,” died from pancreatic cancer at age 76. When she first passed away in August 2018, her family thought that Aretha died without any estate plan at…

View More

PFL® firms in your area

Find your Personal Family Lawyer
Group 247

Everything you need to start planning today.

Use our PFL directory to find the right Personal Family Lawyer for you and the people you love.

Find your PFL