The recent passing of 27 year-old entertainer Amy Winehouse is tragic on many levels. Her family and friends will never be able to replace their lost daughter and friend; her fans will forever miss Amy’s undeniable talent and unique voice. Her well documented substance abuse problems, shared with the world through 24-hour cable news and the internet, were a tragedy in themselves.
Ms. Winehouse is the most recent in a long line of musicians who have left us at 27, a line that includes Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix, among others. Unlike many of the musicians on this list, however, it appears Amy Winehouse had sound legal counsel somewhere along the way.
First, a little background: Amy Winehouse married Blake Fielder-Civil in 2007. The couple divorced in 2009. During the time that they were married, Winehouse’s second LP, “Back to Black” took her from anonymity to superstardom. She won 5 Grammy Awards and the album shot to #1 on charts around the world. Mr. Fielder-Civil’s life was traveling in the opposite direction – six months into their marriage he was sentenced to 27 months in prison for assaulting a man and then offering the man $400,000 to not show up in court. He was recently arrested again and is currently serving a 32 month sentence for robbery.
Under British law, Ms. Winehouse’s ex-spouse would have been in line to inherit the bulk of her estate, which is estimate to be worth over $15 million. Fortunately, in this case, reports indicate that she executed a new will after the divorce. This new will, according to published reports, leaves her estate to her mother and family while excluding her ex-husband.
The estate planning lesson in this case is clear: Individuals should update their estate plans when they go through life-altering events like marriage, divorce, retirement, having children, or becoming international rock stars.
