When a celebrity passes away people become very interested in the circumstances of the estate that is left behind, particularly because of the fact that we are often talking about a lot of money. This was the case with the mercurial British diva Amy Winehouse.
Winehouse was divorced from a gentleman named Blake Fielder-Civil, a chap who has run afoul of the law and finds himself behind bars. The matter of whether or not she left Fielder-Civil anything was something that observers were interested in.
It was suggested that it would be possible that her ex could be in line for an inheritance if she did not leave behind estate planning documents that explicitly disinherited him.
The newspapers in Great Britain were telling us right after the tragic event that Amy Winehouse did in fact have a solid estate plan in place when she passed away. The news was that her parents Mitch and Janis and her brother Alex were named as the heirs to the estate, which was supposedly valued at about $16 million.
Recently probate records have been released, and the above information has proven to be erroneous. In fact Winehouse died without a will, and after probate expenses were paid her estate was worth around $4.6 million according to Forbes.
The piece goes on to say that her parents were in line to inherit her assets via intestacy rules of succession and that her brother and Fielder-Civil were left out in the cold.
This situation illustrates why estate planning is something that is important for everyone regardless of your age. Anything can happen to any one of us at any time so there are no guarantees with regard to your lifespan. And, aside from making sure that your resources are transferred according to your true wishes you can also avoid certain expenses by planning in advance intelligently.
Leaving behind final instructions is simply a basic responsibility that goes along with adulthood. If you are currently unprepared right now would be a good time to take action to arrange for a consultation with a good Hartford estate planning lawyer.
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