When the popular British singer Amy Winehouse passed away during the summer of last year, it was reported that she had an ironclad estate plan in place. A lot of people were surprised to hear this because of her reputation as a hard-living individual who led a freewheeling lifestyle.
In the meantime, the true facts are starting to come out. Forbes tells us that probate records have been made available and they indicate that Amy Winehouse, in fact, passed away without having executed a last will.
You may wonder what would happen if you were to pass away intestate. There are some misconceptions out there about the matter, but the way that it works is that the state has a plan for you if you fail to make one for yourself. Your assets are distributed according to the state’s intestacy rules of succession. In the case of Amy Winehouse, she wasn’t married and she had no children so her parents were her next of kin and first in line to inherit her estate.
People were saying that her estate would be worth somewhere around $16 million when she first passed away. Not so, says the recent article in Forbes. They report that after probate expenses were paid $4.66 million remained.
Some are now suggesting that Winehouse may well have wanted to leave something to her ex-husband, Blake Civil-Fielder, and perhaps her older brother had she taken the time to plan her estate.
This situation demonstrates why it is important to plan ahead for any eventuality regardless of your age. If you would like to do just that, take action right now to arrange for a consultation with a good Oklahoma City estate planning lawyer.
Larry Parman
Author, President and Founding Attorney
Parman & Easterday
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