There are several reasons a potential beneficiary might challenge a will, such as because the decedent lacked capacity and was manipulated to write the will a certain way. Sometimes, there are multiple wills, and evidence indicates that the court should recognize one instead of the others. Regardless, it is difficult to have a legally drafted and filed will be vacated, and some cases become quite dramatic as competing stories clash.

Estate of Marlon Brando

The legendary actor’s Estate was the focus of lengthy litigation due to the ambiguous language in his will and the vast amount of real estate and personal property involved. Numerous parties claimed they were entitled to a portion of the estate based on verbal promises supposedly made by Brando.

Things were made worse because, less than two weeks before his Death, the 80-year-old Brando signed off on major changes in his will. He also changed executors from his long-time personal assistant and business manager to a Hollywood producer and his brother-in-law. At the time, Brando was reportedly suffering from dementia.

One will contest plaintiff was Angela Borlaza, a long-time companion to Brando who was originally hired as a housekeeper. When the new executors evicted her from the home that she said Brando had promised her she would inherit, she challenged the new will. She demanded $627,000, which was the value of the home, and $2 million in punitive damages.

Unfortunately for Borlaza, she was not mentioned in the will, and she had no proof that an oral promise had been made. Without evidence to the contrary, the court had to assume the will presented for probate was valid. She wound up settling for $125,000.

Estate of Michael Jackson

Since his death in 2009, Michael Jackson’s estate has been involved in numerous litigation issues. His will granted all of his assets to the pre-existing Michael Jackson Family Trust and allocated 20% of his fortune as well as 20% of the money made after his death to unspecified charities. The most prominent legal action regarding Jackson’s estate has been the dispute between the IRS and the estate regarding the estate’s total value, which is a reminder of the complexities of valuing intangible assets and the tax implications.

The valuation dispute started with a wide gulf between the parties as Jackson’s executors argued that his estate’s total value was $5.1 million, and the IRS initially estimated its value at more than $500 million before reducing it to $481.9 million. The IRS placed much more value on Jackson’s likeness, which it initially put at over $434 million, while the estate claimed a value of just over $2,000. The parties also filed competing valuations of such assets as Jackson’s interest in a trust that owns some songs of his and The Beatles, Jackson’s share of the Jackson 5’s master recordings rights, and the values of various stocks, bonds, and cars Jackson owned.

In 2021, the Tax Court ruled that the estate’s total combined value was $111.5 million and that the value of Jackson’s name and likeness was $4 million.

Estate of Marilyn Monroe

Following her death, Marilyn Monroe’s likeness became one of the most widely recognized pop culture icons in the world. The Estate of Marilyn Monroe became a brand development and licensing company. Anytime her likeness appeared on a product for sale or in an ad, the estate had the right to approve it and be paid for its use. The estate made millions of dollars every year by licensing the late starlet’s likeness. In 2012, it all came to a halt when a California court ruled that Monroe was a resident of New York when she died, not California.

A residual clause in Monroe’s Last Will and Testament created the right of publicity that manifested under laws adopted in California decades after her 1962 death, the court said. This led to years of profit.  Because executors of Monroe’s estate consistently said during probate and elsewhere that she lived in New York at the time of her death, the court ruled that the estate could not assert California’s posthumous right of publicity. New York, meanwhile, doesn’t allow post-mortem publicity rights.

As the Monroe estate pressed numerous unfair usage suits prior to the 2012 ruling, defendants cited her New York residency as a defense. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ratified the defense.

Estate of Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia, the multi-millionaire rock star leader of the Grateful Dead, died in 1995 with multiple ex-wives, children, and stepchildren but no last will and testament. He left a legal mess.

Garcia’s estate was described as massive and highly complicated, with income from music royalties and a partnership with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream but debts claimed by current and former family members as well as his bandmates. Garcia’s estate was valued at $15 million upon his death, and $50 million worth of claims were subsequently filed against it. Among the claims was a single-page agreement signed by both Garcia and his second wife, which promised to support her at a rate of $250,000 per year. Garcia had promised to leave four of his guitars to his guitar maker, but the other members of the band asserted that the Grateful Dead organization owned the guitars, not Jerry. Garcia’s daughter simply claimed that she wasn’t left enough. After nine years, Garcia’s third wife was able to reduce the $50 million in claims to only $700,000.

Nine years of litigation could have been avoided had Garcia worked with a lawyer to establish a comprehensive last will and testament or a trust.

Estate of Mickey Rooney

Actor Mickey Rooney died in 2014 at age 93 amid charges of elder abuse and theft, a recent separation from his eighth wife, and a new will signed just over three weeks before his death. Rooney’s will made a stepson who had cared for him for the previous two years and that stepson’s wife the only beneficiaries of his estate, which was valued at only $18,000. The will disinherited the actor’s eight surviving children, as well as his estranged wife.

Family members charged that Rooney had lost most of his fortune because of elder financial abuse and mismanagement by another stepson. One stepson said Mickey had been a hostage forcibly kept apart from his wife by another stepson and that he died after choking on his food. However, yet another stepson said Rooney had recently passed a physical required before he could start filming a movie scene and that his death was due to natural causes, including complications related to diabetes.

Rooney’s biological children contested the will but later dropped their objections, demonstrating the challenge of proving elder abuse in a will contest.

Estate of Charles Manson

The infamous cult leader and murderer Charles Manson spent more than 45 years in prison. Upon his 2017 death, his estate was estimated to be worth $1 million or more. With his death, alleged family members and close contacts emerged to claim they were Manson’s rightful heirs.

The value in Manson’s estate comes mostly from the rights to Manson’s music, which includes songs used in Quentin Tarantino’s film “Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood” and on Guns N’ Roses’ platinum-selling album “The Spaghetti Incident?” as well as from authorized biographies and documentaries. Among those seeking their share were a Florida man who claimed to be Manson’s grandson, a longtime pen-pal from California named as Manson’s heir in a purported will from 2002, and a real estate agent who claimed to be Manson’s son. In 2018, Manson’s grandson, former mixed martial arts fighter Jason Freeman, won permission to take possession of the killer’s remains. The estate litigation is still ongoing.

Facing a Will Dispute? Reach Out to Our Experienced Lawyers Today

If you have reason to question a will or probate proceeding in California, you don’t have to go it alone. Our experienced will and trust inheritance lawyers are here to help. We are aggressive trial attorneys who focus solely on complex trust and estate litigation.

Our firm works with clients from throughout the state of California. Albertson & Davidson has offices in Los Angeles (El Segundo), San Diego, Carlsbad, Redwood City, Irvine, and San Francisco. We offer free consultations. Our motto summarizes our determination to deliver justice:  We stand. We fight. We win.

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