John Lennon's will left everything to a trust run by Yoko Ono, and his son Julian sued for 16 years

John Lennon signed his will on 12 November 1979. It named his wife, Yoko Ono, executor and left the residue of his estate to trustees under a trust agreement signed the same day, with Ono and Eli Garber as trustees. It named Ono guardian of "any children of the marriage." It did not name Julian, his son with his first wife, Cynthia. Julian was 17 when his father was shot. Accounts differ on what he had: one says Lennon's divorce arrangement gave Julian a trust paying £50,000 at age 25; another says a £100,000 trust was to be shared between Julian and his half-brother Sean^†. Julian sued the estate. In 1996, after 16 years, the parties settled. The terms were never made public. The Sunday Times reported on 4 August 1996 that Julian would receive £20 million^†. Estimates of the estate's size vary widely, up to £220 million^†. On 12 October 2026 Sean Lennon posted that he and Julian "inherited the same amount from our dad" and that Julian's trust was "slightly more, but negligibly so." He did not give figures or say whether he counted the 1996 settlement.