Having a famous relative might have its perks but when it comes to distributing their estate, history has shown us there are some clear drawbacks. Ranging from Picasso and his paintings to China’s richest woman Nina Wang, this article lists some of the most infamous battles over wills and estates that have reached our newspapers. Read on to find out some of the vicious, crazy and sometimes bitter reasons disgruntled family members have chosen to challenge the will of their famous relative!
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Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso, the world-famous artist and pioneer of the cubism art movement, sadly passed away in 1973 at the age of 91. At the time of his death, he is believed to have left behind a huge estate consisting of over 45,000 works of art, multiple properties, gold bonds and was even thought to be in possession of $4.5 million in cash.
However, after Pablo Picasso’s death, complications arose when his family discovered that he had in fact not left a will. And as the father of four children to three different women (some of which were out of wedlock), it meant that some of his biological grandchildren couldn’t be legally recognised as beneficiaries. What followed was an aggressive legal dispute and it was six years before any of the estate could be distributed amongst the beneficiaries. As a result the management of Picasso’s assets, even today, remains a highly complex task.
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Johnson & Johnson’s Fortune
Director of the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, J.Seward Johnson, passed away in 1983. Upon his death, he left the majority of his estate to his third wife Barabara Johnson. This provoked a bitter inheritance battle between his children, who felt that they deserved a share of his estate more than his third wife, who had been 42 years younger than their father. All six children (from former wives) contested the will and made claims on their father’s estate, which was thought to be worth at least $400 million. The result was an out-of-court settlement of $40 million, which was divided equally between them – with Barabara keeping the rest money.
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Nina Wang
Property tycoon Nina Wang, once China’s richest woman, died in 2007 at the age of 69 – it ignited one of Hong Kong’s most high-profile legal inheritance battles. Nina Wang left behind a $4 billion estate, which her lover Feng Shui master Tony Chan (later named Peter Chan) repeatedly claimed to be the sole beneficiary of. Tony Chan spent years attempting to inherit Ms Wang’s fortune, but it was repeatedly dismissed. And after further investigation, Peter Chan was found guilty of forging her will and her entire estate passed to the ChinaChem Charitable Foundation Ltd which was run by Ms Wang’s siblings.
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Barry White
Famous singer, Barry White (born Barry Carter), died in 2003 at the age of 58. However, problems arose when his girlfriend, Katherine Denton, realised that he hadn’t updated his will for years. And after giving birth to a baby just four weeks before White’s death, she was devastated not to receive a share of his $20 million estate. Denton fought to become a beneficiary, claiming that White had always promised to give her personal items and money. However, after taking a paternity test on the request of White’s family, it was discovered that White wasn’t the baby’s real father. As a result, his estate was then divided between his eight biological children and Denton missed out on any inheritance.
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Leona Helmsley
Infamous real estate tycoon Leona Helmsley died in 2007, leaving behind a fortune of $4.8 billion. Helmsley had instructed for only a small amount of her estate to be given to relatives and for the majority of her estate to be given to charity. However, problems arose when it was revealed that Helmsley had given $5 million to only two of her grandsons (cutting out two other grandchildren) and had left $12 million to her dog.
It was eventually decided by a judge that the dog’s inheritance should be decreased to $2 million and that the two disinherited grandchildren should each receive a £3 million share from her estate.
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