Famous People Who Died Without A Will

12th November 2013

In recent years there seems to have been greater importance placed on why you should leave a will behind for when you die. After all, family feuds and squabbling over who gets what is stuff that the movies are made of. Yet, there are many cases of famous people dying without stating what they want doing with their wealth. The most well-known case of causing a commotion long after they’re gone is Jimi Hendrix.

The famous guitar player and singer died in 1970, however, he didn’t leave any instructions about what he wanted doing with his estate and the rest of his belongings. This caused a family battle that raged on for over 30 years! Add to that the fact that musicians tend to keep generating revenue even after their deaths made for an even more complicated and messy squabble over who should get what and why. Needless to say, Hendrix’ lack of will caused quite a stir amongst his family, and no doubt broke several family ties.

Diana, Princess of Wales, is a story in which failure to turn wishes into a legal document ended up preventing her god children from receiving what she had wanted them to. Prior to her death, Diana had written up a ‘letter of wishes’ detailing what each god child should be given, which, as you can imagine, was very generous indeed. However, due to the fact that the letter wasn’t a legal document and therefore not binding, her will executors decided to give her god children small mementoes rather than what the Princess had wished.

Returning back to the age old problem of not even leaving a will, let alone a letter, is the case of Bob Marley. Upon his death in 1981, after battling cancer for eight months, the singer still hadn’t sought out to draw up some form of will, which of course meant an open season after his state funeral took place. Considering that he had six children from different mothers, and then three children from his wife, it’s no wonder the fights broke out once the ceremony had taken place.

These stories and many more reflect just how hectic the aftermath of a death can be when a will isn’t left, or updated, in the first place. It would seem that, if nothing else, they hit home just how much simpler it is in the long run to state what your wishes are.

Resources
https://www.gov.uk/make-will

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