The Probate Lawyer Blog

Whitney Houston’s will was recently revealed, after it was filed with the probate court to open her estate, in Atlanta, Georgia.  As expected, it named Bobbi Kristina as Whitney’s sole beneficiary.  Beyond that, it was surprising for several reasons. 

First, the fact that Whitney relied on a will — signed back in 1993 no less — instead of a living trust is troubling.  We’re talking about the woman who signed the largest recording contract in history!  If anyone should have thorough estate planning, including a living trust, it was Whitney.

Why?  Wills have to pass through probate court to be effective, which makes them public record.  That’s why information about the contents of her will is all over the internet.  Inside Edition, for example, posted a copy of the will, here.  In addition to be public, probate can be expensive, time-consuming, and a breeding ground for family fights.

The once-troubled pop star sure has been in the news a lot lately.  Settling lawsuits, postponing her wedding, negotiating to be a judge on The X Factor, putting one of her mansions up for sale. It makes you wonder … is Britney Spears making any decisions about her life, or does her father, as her Conservator, decide everything? 

Several months ago, we wrote how her father, Jamie Spears, was using the conservatorship to insulate Britney from lawsuits, including one by a company called Brand Sense.  The company had sued Britney for breach of contract, after Team Britney cut Brand Sense out of profits from her perfume deal with Elizabeth Arden. Because Britney had been declared mentally incompetent, which justified the conservatorship, her father and their attorneys were able to keep Britney from being questioned under oath in a deposition for the lawsuit.

Recently, they’ve settled the case and agreed to give Brand Sense a confidential amount of the profits. The Daily Mail in Britain reported that the settlement  added up to $10 million for Brand Sense.

Let’s face it … Twitter is a social media phenomenon that won’t stop growing any time soon.  Estimates place the number of users at around 500 hundred million.

In fact, it’s getting more and more use even by celebrities who are no longer with us.  Whether it’s attributable to their estates, companies managing their image rights, or other-worldly influences, just because someone is dead doesn’t mean they can’t have an active Twitter account.

This topic got us thinking, and researching.  What are the most-followed official Twitter accounts of deceased celebrities?  Trial & Heirs has the answer.

We’ve done our best to only include actual celebrity accounts.  If you use Twitter and want to follow all of these, we created a Twitter list with all ten.

(All totals are as of March 1, 2012.)