Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, died on Sunday, 7/26/2015. She was only 22 years old and probably had no plans to die so young. She had done nothing to prepare for death and had no will.
When Whitney Houston died in 2012, she left her entire estate to her daughter. That estate was worth more than $20 million. Because of her grandmother’s fear that Bobbi wouldn’t be able to handle so much money at such a young age, she challenged the will and a court ruled that the money could be given to Bobbi in increments. Although the bulk of her inheritance was not supposed to be given to her until her 30th birthday, she had received approximately $2 million when she turned 21.
Her father is her next of kin and so, according to the law, will inherit the money she had already received. However, since he was divorced from her mother, I’m sure Whitney Houston would not have wanted any of her money to go to him. The balance will probably go to Whitney’s mother, Cissy, who is 81 and her two brothers, Michael 53 and Gary 57 since they are Whitney’s closest living relatives.
Because of the number of people who would like to receive some of these millions, this case will probably go through a long court process before anything is definitively settled.
Is this what Bobbi Kristina would have wanted? We’ll never know.
Have you written a will, designating what you want to happen to your estate when you die? Do you want the law to make the decision for you? You could die suddenly at age 22 from what may or may not be an accident like Bobbi Kristina or at 90 or 95 from a heart attack or lingering illness. If the answer to either of these questions is no, you should draft a will immediately and name those people who you want to receive your assets as well as things meaningful to family members like your mother’s jewelry and your dad’s artwork.
You can find a form for a simple will on the web or, for a more sizeable estate, can meet with an attorney to have one drafted soon. Otherwise, in addition to the law deciding for you, it will make things harder for your surviving heirs.
For more information, go to www.diesmart.com.