Law Talks Episode: Estate disputes of music icons – lessons we can all learn

Robyn: Good morning and welcome to another edition of 4CRB’s Law Talks where today we’re going to talk about estate planning lessons to learn from top music icons. We’ve enjoyed their music for decades, from rhythm and blues to pop, these musicians have given so much to the industry, but something that is not as widely known is what went on in their personal lives.

And particularly, some of the dramas that unfolded after their passing. Today, joining us, we have Attwood Marshall Lawyers Estate Litigation Senior Associate Martin Mallon. Martin’s expertise spans a broad range of estate litigation matters. Thanks for joining us today, Martin.

Martin: Thanks for having me, Robyn.

Robyn: Well, we’ve got some more interesting cases today. First, let’s talk about the King of Blues, BB King. Now, he died in 2015 and apparently left behind quite a legal mess, pitting his family members against each other over his estate. What can you tell us about this case and where did it all go wrong?

Martin: Well Robyn, the dispute over BB King’s estate was in relation to two different wills and trusts. One was signed in 2007 and a later one signed in 2014. It has been suggested that BB King had 15 different children with 15 different women. They all claim to be his children, and this was something that he’d never denied.

In BB King’s 2007 will and trust, he left generous allowances to several of his 15 children to continue to support them throughout their lives. However, his 2014 will and trust included significantly less provision for the children and appointed his long-term business manager, Miss Tony, as executor and trustee of his estate. It is not clear how much the estate was worth. But the report estimated, it was up to 30 or 40 million. So not a drop in the ocean.

Following his passing on the 14th of May 2015, several of BB King’s children accused Miss Tony of elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.

They also alleged that she misappropriated funds from BB King’s accounts and restricted their access to their father during his dying days. There was even quite a bizarre claim that the children said that Miss Tony had poisoned him, which led to an autopsy and police investigation.

Things that would only happen in America, but the authorities found there was no evidence to support the allegations.

After those allegations were made, BB King’s children went on to challenge the validity of the 2014 trust will and Miss Tony’s role as trustee. They said that Mister King lacked the mental capacity to make the changes in 2014 due to his declining health as he was blind and suffering from Alzheimer’s disease at the time the will was signed.

They wanted the 2007 will to be reinstated where they were to receive a substantial benefit.

Robyn: Yes.

Martin: The court rejected the claims and held that the 2014 will was valid and that the allegations levelled against Miss Tony were just not substantiated.

So, these disputes highlight the complexities that can arise in estate planning, especially in families with quite unique dynamics and estates that hold significant value.

And Robyn, the takeaway from this case is that when someone gets their will done by an experienced estate planning lawyer, the lawyer will assess a person’s capacity to ensure that they understand the document and that they have capacity to sign a new will.

The lawyer will also take extensive notes which will be used as evidence if a party subsequently files or dispute, an application, disputing that the deceased had capacity to sign the updated world. And this is a very crucial step because it prevents litigation from occurring in the future.

If a person does not elect to get their will drafted by a lawyer who specialises in this area and estate planning, you run the risk that you don’t have this evidence in case someone does later claim that you don’t, you lacked capacity, or someone unduly influenced you or you didn’t know or approve the contents of the will.

So, a will where it might cost you a nominal, or relatively small, amount to draft your estate planning documents, the cost of litigation can be tens and I’ve seen it in hundreds of thousands of dollars because the will because either a person didn’t draught a will or it was a do it yourself will and there were issues of capacity, undue influence, or knowledge and approval.

Robyn: Yeah, it certainly sounds like BB King’s family circumstances were complicated to say the least. And perhaps in hindsight, there may have been ways to avoid such litigation from occurring over his estate.

Let’s move to the next music icon story, now we are going to talk about Grammy Award winning Barry White. He was one of the bestselling artists of all time, but let’s talk about where he went wrong with his estate planning.

Martin: Well Robyn, Barry White died in 2003, and he was only 58 years of age. His situation was one that we actually quite see off. He died, leaving 2 ex-wives, a long-term partner and nine children. Barry didn’t actually update his will for many years prior to his death, so although he had been separated from his second wife, Claudine many years before his death, they never got a divorce. What does that mean? Well, she was entitled to inherit his estate in the eyes of the law. She was still his wife.

So, in this matter, Mr White’s de facto partner, Catherine, she received nothing. Now this is America, and the laws are obviously different to Australia, but we have similar cases where someone dies intestate, so dies without a will and they leave behind an ex-spouse, who they never got around to divorcing, and they have a de facto partner at the time of their death. Usually in these type of cases, the de facto spouse would have the same rights as the ex-wife.

And they usually end up sharing the inheritance, so you could probably imagine that a deceased person would not want their ex-wife or ex-husband benefitting from the estate. Although they were separated, they didn’t get that divorce.

And in Queensland, once the divorce is finalised, any previous appointment of a person’s ex-spouse as an executor, attorney or any gift to the person’s ex-spouse is automatically revoked.

Robyn: Okay.

Martin: Also, if you get married, then any other previous will is revoked. Only the only parts that would be left unchanged would be any benefit that was left to, the now married partner.

But back to Mr White’s case. Catherine, his de facto partner, filed an application in court to seek a greater share of the estate because she claimed that Mr White had always told her that she would have enough money to live off for the rest of their life and that she would continue to live in their LA home, however, ultimately, Catherine did not exceed in her claim, even though Mr White suffered from significant health related issues in his life. He did not update his will when his circumstances changed.

So again, the take home message here is to make sure that you update your will whenever any key event happens in your in your life, such as a relationship break down divorce, a marriage, you have a child. These should all be factors that would trigger updating your will.

If you die and you have not got a formal divorce, then your ex-partner will benefit from your estate.

Robyn: Yeah. And I’m sure that’s something most people would not want happening. And Martin, it’s interesting to hear how that case may have played out differently if it were here in Australia.

Well, we have time for one more, but let’s finish today with a celebrity who got their estate planning right. So many don’t get their estate planning in order when they have such significant wealth, but one iconic crooner did, in fact, get it right and managed to avoid any disputes over his estate. We’re talking about the late, great Frank Sinatra. What did Frank do to ultimately avoid anyone disputing his estate after he passed?

Martin: Well, Robyn, this is a case where someone, it appears that Frank got some very good, decent advice when he drafted his will. Whilst this again is in America and this does not apply in Australia, but what Frank did was that he got a very comprehensive will that included additional clauses to ensure who he wanted to benefit from his estate ultimately would. Understandably, his estate was worth millions. In fact, there is an estimate that it was worth 200 million.

One of the clauses included in Frank’s will is called a no contest clause. That clause stated that if any of his beneficiaries initiated one of the 13 different legal proceedings, they would be completely disinherited. They would receive nil from the estate. I’ve seen these type of clauses in Australia and it says well if you if you file a claim against my estate then you will not benefit. However, in Australia, the courts have found that they are simply unenforceable. So, you can include these clauses a no contest clause, but unfortunately in Australia it will have no practical effect.

Another clever clause, Frank included, was in relation to his wife, who inherited most of his assets, and in his will, Frank left 25 per cent of his royalties to his wife, but specified that for her to receive this benefit they must be married at the time of his death and must still be living together.

Well, Robyn, there’s a lot of clauses that you can tailor to include in your will to try and reduce the risk of someone contesting or challenging it and ensuring who you want to benefit from your estate ultimately will. This is where the value lies in seeing an estate planning lawyer to get your will done and to determine the best strategies to suit your circumstances.

After all, there’s no two families that are the same.

Robyn: No, they certainly are not. Well, Martin, there’s certainly some fascinating cases there. Thanks for breaking them down and showing us what to do, and what not to do. I’m sure it’s been helpful for many of our listeners today.

Martin: Thanks Robyn.

Robyn: You’ve been listening to Law Talks here on 4CRB, which you can hear every Friday morning from 9 o’clock.