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Famous people who died without a will or failed to update their will before dying

If you die without a valid Will you will have died intestate. In these circumstances the estate must be distributed according to the laws of intestacy which set out a statutory set of rules which leave a person’s estate to their next of kin in a fixed order. We look at eight celebrities who died without a will or failed to update their will before dying.

After Amy Winehouse died in intestate, probate records revealed that her £3 million fortune went to her parents, leaving ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil with nothing.
In one televised version of Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie (above), the plot hinged on a supposed aspect of the intestacy laws that does not in fact exist. Two sisters had to be murdered for their multi-million pound fortune to pass to their aunt, their only living relative, who doted on her son. We were told that haste was necessary to ensure that the second victim died before probate had been granted on her sister's will. The experts were baffled by this. "I think it was some kind of mistake; a serious flaw in the plot," said one
Barry White left children, wives and girlfriends fighting over his fortune when he died in 2003 at the age of 58
Bob Marley had six children by different 'baby mothers' and three by his wife, Rita. Despite the singer's eight-month battle with cancer, which ended in his death at the age of 36 in 1981, Marley did not make a will. He left an estimated $30 million, and dozens of claimants. After his state funeral, attended by 30,000 people, the squabbles began over his legacy.
Even if you have made a will, you need to ensure it is updated. Family make-up can change after the birth of a child or the breakdown of a marriage, but if a will is not updated to include or remove beneficiaries, they will have little or no claim to the estate should you die. The late Heath Ledger's daughter Matilda was left out of a will completed before her birth.
Stieg Larsson, the author of The Girl who Played with Fire, died without leaving a will, so his estate was inherited by his father, rather than his partner ...
... and the same thing happened to Jill Dando's estate
Natascha McElhone, the actress, feared she might lose her home after her husband died without leaving a will. In the end she managed to keep her property with the help of a lawyer