Famous People
George Dominic Percy is the eldest son of the Duke of Northumberland and, as such, in line to inherit Alnwick Castle in Northumbria and Syon House (above) in west London.
However, in 2009 Kevin Percy, a retired antiques dealer in Napier, New Zealand, requested DNA testing to ascertain if he is related to the current Duke of Northumberland. He hopes to persuade English authorities to exhume the bodies of two individuals who died 450 years ago. A blood tie may also involve inheritance rights.
Shortly after Prince William married Kate Middleton, George Dominic Percy and Pippa Middleton, sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, were linked romantically.
Gianni Agnelli (1921-2003)
Fiat head Giovanni Agnelli was the grandson of another Giovanni, who founded the Italian auto giant. Gianni's intended successor, also a Giovanni (son of the founder’s brother), died of cancer in 1997, aged 33. Gianni’s own, and only, son Edoardo, committed suicide in 2000, aged 46. He never married, and his son - illegitimate - was not recognised by the family. In 2007 Gianni's daughter Margherita launched a bitter family-splitting lawsuit seeking an accounting all of her father's worldwide assets. One of Margherita's sons is Chairman of Fiat, which includes Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo.
J M Barrie (1860-1937)
Author
JM Barrie (Sir James Matthew Barrie) died childless and left all the rights to Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. The hospital receives royalties not only from book sales but from productions of the play, movie versions and other products. The copyright expired in 1987, but a change in the law gave the hospital the unique right to Peter Pan royalties in perpetuity.
Joey Bishop (1918-2007)
American comedian Joey Bishop (real name Joseph Abraham Gottlieb) outlived his wife Sylvia, contracted Alzheimer's Disease in his 80s, and left a bitterly contested estate. A member of the "Rat Pack," Bishop rubbed shoulders with fellow entertainers Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., and hosted President Kennedy's inaugural. Bishop's estate attracted major lawsuits from Nora Garibotti (caretaker? lover? both?), and a Jewish community centre in California.
Marlon Brando (1924-2004)
Actor Marlon Brando had five children from his three wives plus at least six more children - including adopted - with other women, including his maid. Although he left a will, which he signed only weeks before he died, his $20-million-plus estate attracted more than two-dozen lawsuits. Deborah Brando, wife of his late son Christian, sued several times, alleging that his will has been forged. Christian (1958-2008) pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Cheyenne Brando's boyfriend. Cheyenne (1970-1995), Marlon's daughter and Christian's half-sister, committed suicide. She was 25.
Joseph Brooks (1938-2011)
Oscar-winning songwriter, alleged rapist and father of an alleged murderer left everything to his married personal trainer - which means that his four children got nothing. But various legal and financial twists cloud the final outcome. (Full story)
Anthony Burgess (1917-1993)
Clockwork Orange author and composer Anthony Burgess (real name John Burgess Wilson) was supposed to die thirty years or so before his actual end. Told that he probably had a fatal brain tumour in 1959, he started writing and, as the Grim Reaper failed to keep the appointment, kept doping so. He was prolific in the extreme, and those extra years ran into extra decades, lucrative ones at that.
Burgess left no surviving close relatives. He had no children with his first wife, and Andrew, his son by Liliana, his second wife, predeceased him.
Burgess and Liliana had homes in London, Monaco and Italy, and after he died, she founded The International Anthony Burgess Foundation – in Manchester, Burgess's birthplace.
When Liana (1929-2007) died, she left many of his possessions to the Foundation, which has a library, study centre and performance venue. In 2011, the contents of his homes were found to contain stores of unpublished work, including 20 short stories and some 200 musical compositions.
Richey Edwards (1967-1995?)
Richey Edwards of the rock group Manic Street Preachers disappeared in early February 1995. His car was found near the Severn Bridge, a suicide hot spot, and he is presumed to have committed suicide, although his remains have never been found. In 2008, the Probate Registry of Wales, on an application by his parents, declared that Richey Edwards died on or since 1 February 1995. His parents became executors of his estate, valued at £455,000. They could have applied in 2002 but held off in the hope that their son might turn up alive. For several years after his disappearance, various people claim to have seen him in the UK and elsewhere.
Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970)
American rock legend Jimi Hendrix (real name James Marshall Hendrix) died intestate in London. Thirty-two years later, his father Al died in America, leaving behind a will and codicil and a small fortune inherited from his son.
Al Hendrix had created trusts for ten family members, but after his death, several family squabbles erupted. Jimi's brother, Leon, sued to have his father's will disallowed, and questions also arose regarding the administration of the estate. A judge ruled that Jimi's sister Janie had breached her duties as trustee and he appointed independent trustees. Leon failed in his suit, receiving only one of his brother's gold records. He had sought a quarter of the estate.
Michael Hutchence (1960–1997)
Paula Yates (1959-2000)
Australia-born musician and actor and lead singer of INXS, Hutchence was the lover of UK television presenter Paula Yates and a bevy of other beauties and celebrities - among them, singer Kylie Minogue and models Helena Christensen and Elle MacPherson.
The Hutchence-Yates relationship began after she separated from Irish-born husband Bob Geldof (inspiration behind Live Aid). They had a daughter, Tiger Lily (full name, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily), born after Yates and Geldof divorced. Hutchence apparently hanged himself with a belt (Yates contended that he was engaging in a solo sex act that went wrong) and Yates died of a heroin overdose.
Geldof won custody of Tiger Lily after a court battle with Hutchence's mother Patricia Glassop and sister Tina.
Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
Shortly before he died, Michael Jackson was deep in debt. Shortly after he died, he - more accurately, his estate - was rolling in dough.
The King of Pop died of acute propofol intoxication (overdose of a powerful anaesthetic) shortly before the start of his 50-date gig at the London Arena. His last will, dated 22 March 2002, created the Michael Jackson Family Trust and appointed his mother (singer Diana Ross of the Supremes was a substitute) as guardian for his three young children.
The will notwithstanding, a series of lawsuits was initiated over burial expenses, guardianship, wrongful death, executor removal and other matters. Jackson wisely set up a trust but unwisely did not put funds into it, creating confusion and potential legal complications.
In November 2011, Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, was found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of Jackson (death by prescription drugs followed by criminal charges also occurred with actress-stripper Anna Nicole Smith).
Claire Rayner, OBE (1931-2010)
Before she became a prominent agony aunt, Claire Rayner was a nurse, prolific writer (novels and non-fiction), health campaigner and charity supporter (she was President of the Patients Association). She left most of her £900,000 to her family, but gave a nice tip to her hairdresser (£15k) and left money to other beneficiaries.
Dusty Springfield, OBE (1939-1999)
The will of Dusty Springfield (Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien), the pop singer whose hits include 'You Don't Have to Say You Love Me' and 'Son of a Preacher Man,' provides for first-class care for Nicholas, her 13-year-old cat. The London-born singer died in Henley on the day she was to receive her OBE at Buckingham Palace.
Springfield was living in Hollywood when she bought Nicholas as a kitten, and she brought him with her when she returned to the UK. Springfield knew what Nicholas liked, and her will specified that he was to be fed human baby food and have an indoor tree house with all the feline trimmings (such as scratch pads and catnip). She also arranged for Nicholas to marry the cat belonging to her friend Lee Everett-Alkin, who was also Nicholas's guardian. The singer's fan website (dustyspringfield.org.uk) collects contributions in her name for three charities: Wildlife Waystation in California, Cats Protection League (London), and The Royal Marsden Hospital, for cancer research. The singer died of breast cancer.
"'I have taken, as she knows, a solemn oath never to leave her sixpence when I die, but while I live, I make her an annual allowance: not extravagant in its amount and yet not stinted. There is a compact between us that no amount of cajolery shall ever be addressed by either to the other, but that she shall call me always by my Christian name: I her, by hers. She is bound to me in life by ties of interest, and losing by my death, and having no expectation disappointed, will mourn it perhaps: though for that I care little. This is the only kind of friend I have or will have.'"
Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit (1844)
