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Howard Hughes sadly died on April 6th, 1976 at 70 years of age. However after many lawsuits, and multiple faked and forged wills, a judge eventually declared the billionaire had died intestate. It took 34 years to finally settle the estate.

When Marvin Gaye died he left behind an incredible catalog of the music he had created, but also a mountain of debt he owed and back taxes as well. To further complicate matters, the Motown star and soul icon died without a will leaving his family without clear instruction on how his estate should be administrated, and a puzzle as to how to pay his debts.

Famous comedienne, Joan Rivers, spent her life making millions making us laugh. After her unexpected death in 2014, many newspapers and media outlets began to speculate about the contents and distribution of her estate. However, Joan had known her last will and testament would become tabloid fodder and had taken steps to ensure her and her loved one's privacy was maintained.

Carrie Fisher and her estate planning team created a proactive estate plan, which included an irrevocable living trust. The trust, however, was not funded. What went wrong and how was it rectified?

James Dean was just 24 years old when he perished in an auto accident in 1955. Few legends have lived on quite like his. In spite of being raised by his Aunt and Uncle, his Father became his heir due to the fact that Dean died without a will. James Dean did not get to decide what happened to his assets. But you can decide what will happen to yours.

Princess Diana’s last wishes were largely ignored by her family. The executors of her estate, her mother and her sister, successfully petitioned the probate court for a "variance" of the will. To this day their motivation is unclear and the changes to her wishes were kept secret. Could this have been avoided?

It’s never too early to start planning your estate. There are a few initiatives you can take now to begin the process. While larger estates may have different concerns than smaller ones, the key is to recognize that planning is the issue, not size!

When is the last time you thought about your estate plan? If you are like most women, it is probably not something that crosses your mind every day among the multitude of things you have to do.

He was one of the most prolific artists of a generation, multi selling, multi-award-winning, multi record-breaking. Yet when he died suddenly in August 1977, Elvis Presley's finances were a wreck.

If you are divorced or widowed and planning to remarry, you may want to take the opportunity to review and revise your estate conservation strategies.