Estate Planning Blunders of the Stars (Investment News)

Infamous estate fights
By Andrew Osterland
Investment News
September 11, 2011
You don't have to be a celebrity to make a famous mess of your estate planning, but it might help, according to Danielle and Andrew Mayoras, estate-planning attorneys from Troy, Mich.

They use well-publicized battles over the estates of famous people to illustrate why regular people need sound estate planning. Several famous cases are detailed on their website TrialAndHeirs.com.

“Even when there's not a lot of money involved, people fight over it, particularly in this economy,” Ms. Mayoras said.

The following estate cases provide good examples of what not to do:

Former entertainer and California congressman Sonny Bono, who died in a skiing accident in 1998 at 62, didn't have a will. His estate is still being contested in court by, among others, former wife Cher.

Lesson: Don't put it off.

Retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger may have been a great legal mind, but he wasn't an estate attorney. He prepared his own will and cost his heirs huge sums in court expenses and taxes.

Lesson: Don't do it yourself.

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, wanted to leave most of his estate to charity, but he never updated his will, which is being contested by the mother of one of his children.

Lesson: Update your estate plan for life-changing events — even the purchase or sale of a business.

Zsa Zsa Gabor, the ailing 94-year-old celebrity may have another child, if her ninth husband has his way. Prince Frederic von Anhalt, who has power of attorney for his wife, allegedly wants to arrange for an egg donor, a surrogate mother and artificial insemination to allow it.

Ms. Gabor's only daughter, Francesca Hilton, alleges that the prince has been spending her mother's money unwisely.

Lesson: Choose the right person to have power of attorney for you.