Karl Lagerfeld left about €200 million to his assistant, models, his godson and his cat, and seven years later a French tax claim and a will challenge hold it

Karl Lagerfeld died of prostate cancer on 19 February 2019. He was unmarried and had no children, and both his sisters had died. He drafted his will in April 2016. It was filed in Monaco and is not public. Reports name his assistant Sébastien Jondeau, his godson Hudson Kroenig, the models Brad Kroenig and Baptiste Giabiconi, and his cat Choupette among the beneficiaries. Sixteen months after his death, probate had not been declared on an estate reported at £178 million or more. In 2013 Lagerfeld called President Hollande an "imbécile" in a magazine interview. The tax authorities then audited his 2010 to 2012 income, found income routed through a Liechtenstein foundation and put undeclared income above €40 million. A compromise later brought the debt below €40 million^†. The administrators, Christian Boisson and Michèle Lebossé, sold property and art and raised just over €20 million, about half the debt. Before the end of 2025 a Monaco court validated the inventory of the estate. In early 2026 the notary told the heirs that a family member, not named, was contesting the will. If the will fails, the estate of about €200 million could go to the children of his sisters Christiane and Thea. Choupette lives with his former housekeeper, to whom Lagerfeld gave a house and money for her care. The will challenge was pending in February 2026.