Pop star Prince is the latest in a line of millionaire celebrities to die suddenly without a will.
Prince amassed hundreds of millions of dollars from the sales of more than 100 million records, publishing rights, movies and decades of almost continuous touring.
He died suddenly recently from a suspected prescription drugs overdose to treat muscular and joint pain from wearing high heels and jumping from speakers on to the stage during performances.
Although Prince, 57, was married and divorced twice. He left no children.
His sister Tyka Nelson, 55, claims that the pop star had no will.
Inheritance laws in Prince’s home state of Minnesota, USA, will decide how his five brothers and sisters will split his fortune.
Rich list of stars without wills
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is will take a 40% slice of prince’s fortune in taxes as he dies without a will.
Other rich celebrities have died without wills in recent years.
They include Oscar winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman, star of TV’s The Sopranos James Gandolfini, singer Amy Winehouse and Brokeback Mountain actor Heath Ledger all died without wills.
Hoffman had three children with a partner he did not marry who struggled financially after his untimely death.
Amy Winehouse’s estate went to her parents.
Ledger had a will which was years out of date. As a result, his $20 million fortune went to his family, even though he had a partner he was not married to and child.
Lesson for expats
The lesson for everyone is write a will and make sure the provisions are kept up to date.
Not only do families and friendships change over the years, but so does tax and the law and how the courts will treat a disputed estate.
Expats will find writing a will even more challenging if they have property, savings and investments spread over two or more countries.
They should also take professional legal advice in each country where they have assets to make sure cross-border taxation implications are covered.
Also, expats in Europe and Dubai can opt to have their financial affairs dealt with under local or British regulations. They should make clear in each will which regulations they want their executors to follow.
No you are wrong. Heath Ledger had a will. His will was just not changed. He created the will before he had a child and an ex partner. He left whatever was in that will to his parents and sisters/family.
Then after he had a daughter he created a separate trust and left what was in that to her. Also he took out a 10 million dollar life insurance policy and all of that will go to his child.
Heath left everything as he wanted it. It’s only you gossip media type that fail to mention all this so you can write your articles and use his name to get attention.
Also his child has a mother that provides for her quite well.
Stop making something out of nothing, although it is what you online media idiots do best.
All any of you do is repeat tabloid garbage.