Celebrity Mistakes on Forbes.com

This was really interesting. I just hit some of the highlights but you will find the full pictorial article included in the link at the bottom.

Marlon Brando
Angela Borlaza, actor girlfriend, claimed Brando gave her the house she lived in. She settled with the executors of his estate for $125,000. She also claimed Brando promised her continued employment with a company he owned, and settled that claim out of court.

Leona Helmsley
When she died in 2007, Helmsley will left most of her $5 billion estate to charity, created a $12 million trust for her dog, Trouble, and completely cut out two of her four grandchildren. The two grandkids sued her estate, claiming she wasn't mentally fit to create her will and trust. The case settled, with Trouble getting $2 million, and the two grandkids sharing $6 million.

Brooke Astor (you know this story if you have been following my blog).
In October 2009, socialite Brooke Astor's son Anthony Marshall was convicted of fraud and grand larceny relating to his handling of his late mother's estate. The 14 counts of which a New York jury found Marshall guilty included misusing his power of attorney over her financial affairs by giving himself a retroactive $1 million raise for managing her finances.

Ted Williams
In his will, baseball's Ted Williams said he wished to be cremated. But his two children from a second marriage produced a grease-stained note saying he wished to be put in biostasis after his death, and they froze his body after his death in 2002. His eldest daughter fought to have his body unfrozen and cremated, but gave up the fight when she ran out of money.

Heath Ledger
When actor Heath Ledger died at age 28 in 2008, he had a will, but it was written three years before he died, prior to his relationship with Michelle Williams and the birth of their daughter, Matilda Rose. The will left everything to his parents and sister. When Ledger's uncles raised fears that his father wouldn't properly care for Matilda Rose, Ledger's father said he would.

Princess Di
At her death in 1997, Princess Diana left a detailed will, naming her sister and mother as executors. She also wrote a separate "letter of wishes" asking her executors, at their discretion, to divide her belongings among her sons and her 17 godchildren. But instead of getting stuff worth an estimated 100,000 pounds, each godchild got only a small personal item.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Warren Burger
Mr. Burger died in 1995 with a $1.8 million estate and a will he typed up himself. His family paid $450,000 in estate taxes, something that could have been avoided. His executors had to pay to go to court to get approval to complete administrative acts, such as selling real estate, that typically a well-drafted will would have allowed without court approval.

Jimi Hendrix
Mr. Hendrix died at age 27 in 1970 without a will. Under state law, his dad, Al, got everything, leaving his close brother Leon with nothing. Al built Hendrix's musical legacy into an $80 million venture, but in his own will cut out Leon and his family, in favor of his adopted daughter through a later marriage.

Doris Duke
Tobacco heiress Doris Duke, who died in 1993 with a fortune estimated at $1.3 billion, named her butler as executor and as trustee for a huge charitable foundation. After the butler's lifestyle and spending habits were called into question, he was removed from his duties by a probate judge, then reinstated by New York's highest court. A settlement agreement created a board of trustees to manage the foundation.

Full article can be found at:


http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/24/princess-di-heath-ledger-brando-personal-finance-investment-guide-2-09-celebrity-estate-mistakes_slide_2.html