Random Celebrities Who Died Without a Will (28 items)

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  (#1) Aretha Franklin

  • 76

  The Queen of Soul left no will when she passed on August 16, 2018, at the age of 76. According to Detroit Free Press, her four sons filed a document at the Oakland County Probate Court, calling themselves interested parties concerning her massive estate, estimated to be worth $80 million. 

  Michigan law dictates the estate of an unmarried person must be divided equally between the deceased's children. Her decision to leave no official will may have song collaborators and distant relatives fighting for a piece of the inheritance. Franklin also had a history of debts, so creditors could come after the estate as well.
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  (#2) Michael Jackson

  • Dec. at 51 (1958-2009)

  Michael Jackson actually did have a will, but it is considered invalid by several of his family members. Attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain were named the executors of Jackson's estate, but Janet Jackson and the pop star's other siblings took the case to court, stating Branca and McClain had no claim to the estate.

  "What will be gained by a finding of invalidity is that the executors will be replaced and the estate and the guardianship will be managed in the best interests of the children, which is what Michael wanted," Janet's lawyer said in a statement.
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  (#3) Abraham Lincoln

  • Dec. at 56 (1809-1865)

  Abraham Lincoln did not have a will in place when he was slain in 1865. Following his unexpected passing, the family enlisted Justice David Davis of the United States Supreme Court to take care of his estate. Davis went on to petition the court to declare that the President's $110, 000 estate be equally divided between his wife and two living children.
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  (#4) Prince

  • Dec. at 57 (1958-2016)

  Following Prince's unexpected passing in 2016, his siblings stated that the "Purple Rain" singer did not have a legitimate will in place. A long legal battle is expected, but journalist and documentary filmmaker Ian Halperin believes that a valid will exists somewhere in Toronto where Prince lived for a time.
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  (#5) Kurt Cobain

  • Dec. at 27 (1967-1994)

  Kurt Cobain's entertainment lawyer, Rosemary Carroll, has stated that prior to his passing, Kurt Cobain wanted Courtney Love taken out of his will because he planned to divorce her. This ambiguity and legal issues related to Nirvana have led to many legal battles between Love and Cobain's Nirvana bandmates, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic.
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  (#6) Martin Luther King, Jr.

  • Dec. at 39 (1929-1968)

  Martin Luther King, Jr.'s estate has been the subject of many lawsuits since the civil rights leader passed without a will. His offspring did form a corporation in order to fairly control his assets, but then they ended up fighting over stakes in that venture.
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  (#7) Amy Winehouse

  • Dec. at 28 (1983-2011)

  Amy Winehouse perished without a valid will stating what to do with her $6.7 million estate. Her assets went to her closest living relatives: her parents, Mitch and Janis.
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  (#8) Jimi Hendrix

  • Dec. at 28 (1942-1970)

  Jimi Hendrix passed in 1970 without leaving a will. For decades, his family members participated in legal fights over his estate. In 2009, his siblings went to court over the rights to the musician's iconic image.
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  (#9) Tupac Shakur

  • Dec. at 25 (1971-1996)

  Tupac Shakur passed without a will, but his mother, Afeni Shakur, stepped in and set up a trust to protect his legacy. The rapper was actually in debt at the time of his passing, but Afeni grew his estate into over $40 million.
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  (#10) Heath Ledger

  • Died at 29 (1979-2008)

  Heath Ledger did have a will when he passed in 2008, but it hadn't been updated since 2003, meaning his daughter Matilda and her mother, Michelle Williams, weren't included. Ledger's father assured the media that Matilda and Michelle would be well taken care of despite the outdated paperwork.
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  (#11) Bob Marley

  • Dec. at 36 (1945-1981)

  Bob Marley never had a will, but he did have plenty of children and family members who regularly fought about the musician's estate. His widow, Rita Marley, lost control of his estate after it was discovered that she forged documents regarding the singer's corporate holdings.
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  (#12) Howard Hughes

  • Dec. at 71 (1905-1976)

  Howard Hughes was one of the richest men in the world when he passed in 1976, but he left no will and had no direct descendants. Most of his fortune went to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, but 200 of his distant relatives also received substantial payouts.
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  (#13) Marvin Gaye

  • Dec. at 45 (1939-1984)

  Marvin Gaye didn't just pass without a will, he also left behind plenty of debt. His heirs balanced the books by marketing his songs and image rights, as well as his life story. Recently, Gaye's estate won $7.4 million from Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke because a court found that their song, "Blurred Lines," infringed on the copyright of Gaye's tune, "Got To Give It Up."
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  (#14) Pablo Picasso

  • Dec. at 92 (1881-1973)

  Pablo Picasso did not leave a will and his heirs - comprised of wives, mistresses, legitimate and illegitimate children - were left to figure things out in the court system. His son, Claude Picasso, is currently the legal administrator of Picasso’s estate.
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  (#15) Billie Holiday

  • Dec. at 44 (1915-1959)

  Today, her estate is worth an estimated $14 million, but when Billie Holiday passed without a will in 1959, she had less than $1,000 to her name. Holiday passed intestate under New York law, allowing her estranged (but not divorced) husband, Louis McKay, to inherit her entire estate, including royalties.
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  (#16) James Brown

  • Dec. at 73 (1933-2006)

  James Brown passed with a will, but it wasn't in the best of shape. Though the singer passed in 2006, the details of his estate were still being fought in court as of 2018. The main point of contention centered on whether Tomi Rae Hynie was legally Brown's wife at the time of his passing.
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  (#17) John Denver

  • Dec. at 54 (1943-1997)

  John Denver didn't have a will, so his first ex-wife, Annie Martell, was named as the executor of his estate. She proceeded to divide his assets equally between his three children (one biological and two adopted).
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  (#18) Sam Cooke

  • Dec. at 33 (1931-1964)

  Sam Cooke had no will and a bad business deal at his time of passing. His family was forced to fight with his business partners in court for many years. As of 2015, his estate was worth an estimated $100 million.
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  (#19) Sonny Bono

  • Dec. at 63 (1935-1998)

  After Sonny Bono passed without a will in 1998, a man surfaced claiming to be his illegitimate son. However, DNA testing proved the man not to be Bono's child, and his estate was divided between his widow Mary Bono and his two children.
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  (#20) Barry White

  • Dec. at 59 (1944-2003)

  The family of Barry White found themselves locked in a feud over his outdated and, thus, contested will after he passed in 2003. The deep-voiced singer left behind two ex-wives, nine children, and one long-term partner.
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  (#21) Stieg Larsson

  • Dec. at 50 (1954-2004)

  Although Stieg Larsson - best known for writing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - had been in a relationship with Eva Gabrielsson since the early 1970s, they never married. Upon his passing he had no will and Swedish law would not recognize common-law marriage between Larsson and Gabrielsson who had co-habitated for more than 30 years. Thus, his estate, including rights to his Millennium Trilogy, and all royalties went to his father and younger brother. Gabrielsson has written about this injustice in her autobiography.
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  (#22) Nate Dogg

  • Dec. at 42 (1969-2011)

  Nate Dogg's family argued over who would be in charge of his estate following his passing in 2011. His children did not want the rapper's wife and his mother to be executors of his estate, as they did not think they would give any money to his children. Ultimately, his wife and mother gave up their battle for control of his estate to avoid further conflict with his children. His real estate, existing cash and royalties from his music will be divided among his six children.
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  (#23) Steve McNair

  • Died at 36 (1973-2009)

  Steve McNair didn't have a will when he was slain by his mistress at the age of 36. By law, his widow became the representative of his estate at which time she demanded $3,000 per month rent payments from McNair's mother, for whom he had acquired and was paying for an expansive home and property in Mississippi. Ultimately, his mother was unable to make the payments and forced to leave her home.
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  (#24) Adam Goldstein

  • Dec. at 36 (1973-2009)

  Adam Goldstein, AKA DJ AM, passed with no will and an estate worth $1 million. His sole heir and mother, Andrea Gross, filed paperwork to seek control of his assets.
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  (#25) Rik Mayall

  • Dec. at 56 (1958-2014)

  When comedian Rik Mayall passed, he left his family with a large tax inheritance bill. This could have been prevented if he had left everything to his wife in a valid will.
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  (#26) Jill Dando

  • Dec. at 38 (1961-1999)

  When the English television presenter Jill Dando was slain in 1999, her father became the default beneficiary of her estate. Since he was in his 80s at the time, her brother acted on his behalf to administer the estate.
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  (#27) Roger Lloyd-Pack

  • Dec. at 70 (1944-2014)

  Actor Roger Lloyd-Pack did not leave a will, but his assets were divided among his wife and four children. His family had to pay an inheritance tax because a will wasn't in order.
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  (#28) Peter Brock

  • Dec. at 61 (1945-2006)

  Racer Peter Brock was in the process of completing his will when he passed in 2006. Since he did not have a current valid will, his estate went to his children, leaving out his longtime girlfriend, Julie Bamford.

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