Luke Perry Protected His Children With Estate Planning

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Luke Perry Protected His Children With Estate Planning

March 20, 2019

When Luke Perry, whose full name was Coy Luther Perry III, died on March 4, 2019, he was surrounded by family and loved ones. Tragically, the actor — who rose to fame playing a teenage heart-throb on Beverly Hills 90210 — died from a condition that almost everyone thinks of as one that only strikes “old” people. Fortunately, Perry’s foresight to do the proper estate planning meant that the tragedy was not made worse for his family.

Luke Perry Suffers Stroke

At the young age of 52, Perry suffered a serious stroke and was hospitalized under heavy sedation. Five days later, his family made the decision to remove life support, after it was apparent that he would not recover, following a reported second stroke. He was surrounded by his children, 21-year-old Jack and 18-year-old Sophie, along with his fiancé, ex-wife, mother, and siblings, among others.

The decision to allow Perry to die – when he was healthy and vibrant less than a week earlier – must have been difficult. The fact that the hospital allowed Perry’s family to end life support means that Luke Perry likely had executed the proper legal documents so that his family could make the decision. Specifically, in California, those wishes generally are made in writing, through an Advance Directive or a Power of Attorney. Without a proper legal document, Luke Perry’s family may have needed an order from a probate court to terminate life support, at least if family members disagreed. That would have been a public and emotional process that would have prolonged his suffering and made it even harder for his family.

In 2015, Perry reportedly created a will, leaving everything to his two children. Starting that year, Perry became an outspoken advocate for screening for colorectal cancer. He discovered he had precancerous growths following a colonoscopy and began urging others to do the same testing. According to a family friend, it was because of this scare that Perry created a will to protect his children.