Whitney Houston’s will: Ex-husband Bobby Brown doesn’t get a cent
Whitney Houston’s will and estate leave no room for confusion. Everything goes to a single heir: Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, the late singer’s one and only child.
And ex-husband Bobby Brown gets nothing.
That’s what attorney Kenny Meisalas, who represents Houston, told the Associated Press this week. Unlike other celebrity estates that may be subject to disputes and dueling survivors trying to get their hands on the riches, Houston’s estate was apparently well-managed and organized. Meisalas said the execution of the will was quite “straightforward.”
“Things with the family have been very smooth, no problems,” he told the news service. He added that everything was proceeding normally, and that he didn’t anticipate any challenges to the will.
Fulton County Probate Court Judge Pinkie T. Toomer in Atlanta on Wednesday approved the will, according to the AP. Houston’s sister-in-law and manager, Pat Houston, was recognized as the estate’s administrator.
Our sister blog, Ministry of Gossip, reports that money from the estate will go into a trust until Houston’s daughter turns 21, with a subsequent payment at age 25 and the rest at age 30. Houston’s daughter will break her silence on Sunday, when a prerecorded interview with Oprah Winfrey is slated to air.
Unclear, however, is what the estate entails and how much Bobbi Kristina Brown will inherit.
Houston is said to have struggled financially over the years despite being one of the country’s most successful singers. But it’s hard to separate rumor from truth. The tabloids have portrayed Houston as suffering for years under the control of ex-husband Bobby Brown, suggesting that the pair squandered her fortune with reckless spending and drug use. There have also been reports that Houston borrowed heavily against an upcoming album.
Such a debt load, if true, might be erased in the wake of her posthumous success. Houston’s death last month at the age of 48 sent her record sales soaring. This week alone sees four Houston albums in the top 20 positions on the Billboard Top 200 chart, with her “Greatest Hits” album at No. 2.
Houston, 48, died in a Beverly Hills hotel room Feb. 11. She was found submerged in a bathtub just hours before she was scheduled to attend a pre-Grammys soiree hosted by her longtime mentor, Clive Davis. A cause of death has not yet been determined, in part because toxicology tests are still pending.
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