Celebrities will often have a lot of money that they will leave in a will to be inherited by the nearest and dearest when they die, but even the richest of celebrities sometimes fail to plan properly, which can lead to complicated legal proceedings that can cause friction within a family.

There are a few cases worth looking into in order to establish what we can learn from other people’s mistakes. Cases currently in the news include the issues surrounding Amanda Bynes and how her parents are struggling with conservatorship to keep their daughter safe, as well as the case involving Casey Kasem as the family continue to argue over where he should be buried. It is vital to ensure you avoid ambiguity in a will as this can lead to countless problems that we are currently witnessing in Princess Diana’s will in the money she wanted to leave to Prince Harry.

When Prince Harry turned 30 earlier this year, he became entitled to half of Diana’s assets but originally the will outlined that he would be entitled to these assets when he turned 25. So, why did the will change? Diana’s executors of the will asked the probate real estate court to allow a “variance” of the will, and this variance included the delay of the distribution to Harry until he turned 30 rather than 25. British law requires certain language to be used in a will and in a Letter of Wishes and as the required language wasn’t used, the will failed to be 100% legally binding and numerous issues have arisen as a consequence.

Another high profile case is that involving author Tom Clancy. Even when it appears that an estate has been professionally planned there are flaws to be found, with Clancy’s wife now being subjected to pay tax for assets that should be tax-free as part of the spouse law on taxes. However, a flaw in the will has led to the cost of the taxes to be spread out between the families, rather than simply to the children as outlined in the original will. Many celebrity estates have lost their value due to high legal costs that have been incurred after poor estate planning including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Clark Gable and Walt Disney as well as former Presidents like Eisenhower and Roosevelt.