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North America

Wills, estates and inheritance fights in the United States and Canada.

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What do the North America estate cases show?

A trust can keep a will private, but the people hired to guard the estate can still become its first litigants. A will that pours everything into a private trust keeps the shares out of the public file, but the executors' fees and payments still need court approval and any beneficiary can object to them.

Stories
605
Years
10700 BCE to 2026
Main subjects
Music and sport, Hollywood and TV, Literature and art
Legal traditions
Common law, Civil law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every story in North America, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

  1. 2026Dolly Parton's estate company sued her nephew and former security chief one month after her death, alleging threats to ruin her brandwbur.org and 5 more
  2. 2009Michael Jackson's estate put its value at $5.1 million, the Tax Court set $111.5 million, and a judge later ordered $625,000 in bonuses returnedabcnews.com and 8 more
  3. 2009Michael Jackson's companies face abuse suits from Wade Robson and James Safechuck, revived on appeal in 2023 and set for trial in 2028The Guardian and 6 more
  4. 1973A Chinese fast-food chain used a Bruce Lee figure as its logo for 15 years, and his daughter sued for 210 million yuangulfnews.com and 3 more
  5. 1977Elvis Presley's probate judge ruled that Colonel Parker's 50 percent share "shocks the conscience of the court" and ordered the estate to sue himCourtListener and 10 more
  6. 2023Lisa Marie Presley's mother contested her trust, then resigned as trustee in exchange for $1 million and a grave near Elvis at Gracelandunicourt.com and 10 more
  7. 2023Lisa Marie Presley's trust was told it owed $3.8 million on Graceland, and the Missouri woman who forged the loan got 57 months in prisonjustice.gov and 5 more
  8. 2014Robin Williams's widow and three children fought in a San Francisco court over his belongings, and the children got more than 85 watchesjournals.law.harvard.edu and 12 more
  9. 2016Prince died without a will, more than 45 people claimed to be his relatives, and his estate took 6 years and a tax court case to dividenbcwashington.com and 16 more
  10. 2008Heath Ledger's will was written before his daughter was born and left her nothingarchive.triblive.com and 3 more
  11. 1996Tupac Shakur's estate forced Drake to delete a song that used an AI copy of Tupac's voiceNBC News and 2 more
  12. 2016David Bowie was cremated two days after he died with no one present, and his will asked for his ashes to go to Baliultimateclassicrock.com and 4 more
  13. 1962Marilyn Monroe's executor told tax officials she lived in New York, so a court barred her estate's company from claiming California image rightsCourtListener and 8 more
  14. 2021The widow of Bob Dylan's "Hurricane" co-writer sued for a share of his $300 million song sale and lost twicenycourts.gov and 3 more
  15. 1980John Lennon's will left everything to a trust run by Yoko Ono, and his son Julian sued for 16 yearsbeatlesbible.com and 3 more
  16. 1980John Lennon's diaries and watch were stolen from Yoko Ono's home and taken to Berlin; Switzerland's top court ruled the watch hers in 2024bger.ch and 10 more
  17. 2011Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry sold for $137,235,575 at Christie's in December 2011, the most ever paid for a jewelry collection, with the proceeds going to her foundationguinnessworldrecords.com and 2 more
  18. 2023Harry Belafonte tried to sell Martin Luther King Jr.'s papers, King's children said they were wrongfully taken, and Belafonte sued them and kept the papersupr.org and 3 more
  19. 1968Martin Luther King Jr.'s estate sued his daughter in 2014 to take his Nobel medal and Bible for sale, and a judge locked both in a bank boxlaw.resource.org and 12 more
  20. 2020Deputies and firefighters shared photos of Kobe Bryant's remains, and his widow won $28.85 million from Los Angeles Countyetonline.com and 2 more
  21. 2016Muhammad Ali's company sued Fox for more than $30 million over a 3-minute Super Bowl LI promotional video using his image, and Fox settledrightofpublicityroadmap.com and 5 more
  22. 2008Britney Spears's father ran her money for 13 years on $16,000 a month, a judge removed him, and she paid to end the fightNPR and 4 more
  23. 1998Frank Sinatra's will disinherited any family member who challenged it, listing 13 forbidden legal actionsDeseret News and 2 more
  24. 2001George Harrison's estate sued his cancer doctor for making him sign a guitar two weeks before he diedfoxnews.com and 4 more
  25. 2004Marlon Brando's $21.6 million will left out one child, and a son's girlfriend scattered part of his ashesLos Angeles Times and 1 more
  26. 2009Brittany Murphy's father sued the coroner for her hair samples, then said a lab found heavy metals; her mother called it a smearCBS News and 5 more
  27. 2017Chris Cornell's widow sued Soundgarden over his last seven recordings and called their $278,000 buyout offer "villainously low"loudwire.com and 4 more
  28. 2014Philip Seymour Hoffman left an estimated $35 million to Mimi O'Donnell, whom he never married, and refused a trust for his three childrenfoxnews.com and 3 more
  29. 1994Kurt Cobain left no will; his widow sued his bandmates for Nirvana, sold a quarter of his songs, and his Unplugged guitar went to his daughter's ex-husbandThe Seattle Times and 7 more
  30. 2017Chester Bennington left everything to his widow and six children, and his first wife's claim took half of his Linkin Park royaltiesloudwire.com and 4 more
  31. 2022Anne Heche's ex said a 2011 email was her will, and the court gave her estate to her 20-year-old sonetonline.com and 3 more
  32. 2003Johnny Cash's trust sued Coca-Cola for using a tribute singer who sounds like himfox10phoenix.com and 2 more
  33. 2023Matthew Perry died of ketamine, and his doctor, his assistant and a dealer called the "Ketamine Queen" were prosecutedktvu.com and 2 more
  34. 1967Jayne Mansfield's estate was appraised at $600,000 in 1967; by 1977 her children found about $500,000 in debts and the estate insolventThe New York Times and 2 more
  35. 2013Paul Walker left $25 million to his 15-year-old daughter, who then sued Porschenydailynews.com and 3 more
  36. 1969After Sharon Tate's murder her mother Doris backed California's 1982 Victims' Bill of Rights and became the first victim's relative to speak at a state parole hearingthe-line-up.com and 4 more
  37. 1981Bob Marley died without a will, and his widow forged his signature to move his companies into her nameFindLaw Caselaw and 3 more
  38. 1997The Notorious B.I.G.'s mother and widow co-owned his catalog; after the mother died, her trustee sued the widow and wonthegrio.com and 5 more
  39. 1990The IRS seized Willie Nelson's ranch, studio and guitars over a $16.7 million tax bill, and fans bought them backUPI and 3 more
  40. 1979John Wayne's heirs ended an 11-year trademark fight with Duke University after agreeing that no letter of DUKE on their liquor will be bluettabvue.uspto.gov and 14 more
  41. 1993Walt Disney's twin grandchildren split over a $400 million trust after the trustees paid one twin and refused the otherazcourts.gov and 4 more
  42. 2017Aaron Hernandez's suicide wiped out his murder conviction, and two years later the state's top court put it backinsurancejournal.com and 1 more
  43. 2018Aretha Franklin's 2014 will was found in a notebook under her couch cushions, a jury upheld it in 2023, and her estate was still open in 2026wdet.org and 8 more
  44. 2020Chadwick Boseman died in 2020 without a will, and his widow filed in Los Angeles to run an estate first listed at $938,500today.com and 3 more
  45. 2013Amanda Bynes lived under her mother's conservatorship for nine yearsCNN and 1 more
  46. 1976Howard Hughes left no valid will, a jury found the Mormon will naming Melvin Dummar a forgery, and Texas and California fought over his death taxesCornell Law School, LII and 11 more
  47. 2018Burt Reynolds's 2018 will named his son Quinton as intentionally omitted and routed his assets through a trust run by his niecetmz.com and 3 more
  48. 2025Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead a week apart, and his children are fighting wills that leave them nothingRolling Stone and 3 more
  49. 1977Lynyrd Skynyrd's widows and survivors used a 1988 court order to block a film about the plane crash, and lost on appealThe Hollywood Reporter and 1 more
  50. 2003John Ritter's family collected $14 million in settlements, then lost a $67 million suit against two doctorstoday.com and 1 more
  51. 1994A court removed 17-year-old Frances Bean Cobain from Courtney Love's care, and she took control of her father's imageusatoday30.usatoday.com and 2 more
  52. 1981Natalie Wood drowned off Santa Catalina Island in 1981, and in 2012 the Los Angeles coroner changed her death certificate to "drowning and other undetermined factors"The Hollywood Reporter and 4 more
  53. 1984Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father, left no will and $9 million in debt, and his children won the "Blurred Lines" caseinvestmentnews.com and 2 more
  54. 2024Shannen Doherty signed her divorce settlement the day before she died of cancerCBS News and 2 more
  55. 2009Ryan O'Neal took a Warhol portrait from Farrah Fawcett's home; her university sued and losttexasmonthly.com and 2 more
  56. 1987Andy Warhol's foundation valued his art at $95 million; a court said $390.9 million, and his estate lawyer was paid on the differenceThe Art Newspaper and 3 more
  57. 2017Bill Paxton's family sued his surgeon and Cedars-Sinai after he died following heart surgeryDeadline and 2 more
  58. 2010Dennis Hopper filed for divorce while dying of cancer and fought his wife over money until his deathhuffpost.com and 2 more
  59. 1957Laura Ingalls Wilder left her book royalties to a Missouri library after her daughter's death; the daughter's heir renewed the copyrights, and a 2001 settlement paid the library $875,000The Seattle Times and 2 more
  60. 2007Anna Nicole Smith's body went to her 5-month-old daughter's guardian after a Florida judge wept through the ruling, and DNA named the girl's fathercdn.ca9.uscourts.gov and 7 more
  61. 2020Kirk Douglas left most of a $61 million estate to charity and nothing to his son MichaelInternet Archive and 3 more
  62. 1998Phil Hartman was shot dead by his wife in 1998; their wills left $1.23 million to two children, and a 1999 suit blamed Zoloftspokesman.com and 2 more
  63. 1985Orson Welles's daughter Beatrice sued his partner Oja Kodar, fought her over The Other Side of the Wind, and lost her claim to the Citizen Kane copyrightFindLaw Caselaw and 5 more
  64. 2024Elon Musk gave his foundation $7.9 billion in Tesla stock in two years, and its filings show it paid out less than requiredCornell Law School, LII and 2 more
  65. 2019Jeffrey Epstein signed his will two days before he died in jail; victims' claims cut the $577 million estate to about $107 millionedition.cnn.com and 11 more
  66. 2018Stan Lee's last manager was charged with elder abuse after the Marvel creator diednbclosangeles.com and 2 more
  67. 2002Layne Staley's mother was paid his Alice in Chains share for ten years, then sued his bandmates when they ended itblabbermouth.net and 3 more
  68. 1995Bob Ross left his name to his son, and his business partners won it in courtCourtListener and 3 more
  69. 2017Tom Petty's daughters sued his widow for $5 million over control of his musicRolling Stone and 2 more
  70. 1993Brandon Lee was killed on the set of The Crow in 1993 by a bullet fragment fired from a prop gun, and his mother and fiancee settled with the producers for an undisclosed sumhistory.com and 4 more
  71. 1955James Dean died without a will, his father inherited, his wrecked Porsche vanished in 1960, and his estate sued Twitter over @JamesDeanThe Seattle Times and 5 more
  72. 2021Phil Spector died in prison serving a murder sentence; his daughter sued his ex-wife, alleging she posed as the daughter to sell his memorabiliatheblast.com and 6 more
  73. 2005Rosa Parks left almost all her estate to her institute, her 13 nieces and nephews contested the will, and a 2007 settlement gave them 20 percentlaw.resource.org and 10 more
  74. 1970Janis Joplin changed her will two days before she died and left $2,500 for her friends to throw a partyultimateclassicrock.com and 4 more
  75. 2000Hedy Lamarr's adopted son sued in Florida in 2000 over a will that left him nothing from her $3.3 million estateUPI and 3 more
  76. 2015Joni Mitchell's friend told a court the singer was unconscious while her website said she was alert, and won control of her medical carebostonglobe.com and 2 more
  77. 1977Jacqueline Onassis paid to stop her aunt's eviction from Grey Gardens, and the house sold for $220,000 on condition it not be torn downThe New Yorker and 5 more
  78. 2025Brian Wilson was placed in a conservatorship after his wife died, while his first wife sued for half of a $50 million rights saledigitalmusicnews.com and 4 more
  79. 2004Ray Charles gave each of his 12 children $500,000 and left the rest to a foundation; seven of them moved to take back his songsleagle.com and 3 more
  80. 1993Gail Zappa left two of her children control of Frank Zappa's estate, and Dweezil was told he could not use his own surname for his bandRolling Stone and 2 more
  81. 2016Debbie Reynolds never raised the money for her Hollywood museum, sold her 3,500-item collection in 2011, and her estate auctioned more after she died a day after Carrie Fishernbclosangeles.com and 4 more
  82. 1988Basquiat died at 27; his estate shut its authentication board, and the FBI later seized 25 fake Basquiats from a museumitsartlaw.org and 4 more
  83. 1991Dr. Seuss's widow ran his licensing for 27 years; three years after her death his estate pulled six of his booksWikipedia (English) and 1 more
  84. 2010Tony Curtis left everything to his wife and named his five living children to exclude theminsideedition.com and 2 more
  85. 1991Miles Davis's will left nothing to two of his sons, and the eldest wrote a book blaming his aunt and sisterdigital.bentley.umich.edu and 6 more
  86. 2006James Brown left his fortune to educate poor children, and 15 years of lawsuits came before the estate sold for about $90 millionABA Journal and 3 more
  87. 1982Ayn Rand's heir kept the first and last pages of The Fountainhead manuscript; the Library of Congress took them from his home in January 2002peikoff.com and 2 more
  88. 2005Hunter S. Thompson's ashes were launched from a 15-story tower at his ranch in August 2005, and a lawsuit later put the cost at $3 million paid by Johnny Deppespn.com and 3 more
  89. 1955Albert Einstein's publicity rights ended in 2005, a judge ruled, defeating Hebrew University's suit over a GM ad with his face on a muscled bodycacd.uscourts.gov and 5 more
  90. 2011Peter Falk's daughter lost a conservatorship fight to his widow and then pushed for a lawLos Angeles Times and 1 more
  91. 2019Nipsey Hussle was shot dead outside his store, and his family took guardianship of his daughter from her motherokayplayer.com and 3 more
  92. 2005Johnny Carson's trust gave his foundation $156 million after his death, and no public accounting of his estate has appearedthesmokinggun.com and 3 more
  93. 2011Steve Jobs swore he was sterile to avoid paying for his daughter, lost on a blood test, and later left her millionsfortune.com and 2 more
  94. 1977Joan Crawford's will left out Christina and Christopher "for reasons which are well known to them"Internet Archive and 6 more
  95. 1990Sammy Davis Jr. died owing the IRS about $7 million, and his widow lost the rights to his name and musicDeseret News and 6 more
  96. 2018Paul Allen's will ordered his teams sold, and his sister sold the Trail Blazers for about $4 billionInternet Archive and 3 more
  97. 2008George Carlin's estate sued a podcast over an AI-made comedy special and won its removalThe New York Times and 2 more
  98. 2014Mickey Rooney worked 90 years and left an $18,000 estate to one stepsonCNN and 2 more
  99. 1979Sid Vicious asked to be buried beside Nancy Spungen; her mother said no, and his mother scattered his ashes on the grave anywayThe Independent and 3 more
  100. 2016Leonard Cohen's manager emptied his retirement fund, and after his death his children found a forged page in his trustthecanadianencyclopedia.ca and 5 more
  101. 1987Fred Astaire's widow charged fees for clips of him, lost a federal appeal over 90 seconds of film, and licensed him to a vacuum maker over his daughter's objectionlaw.resource.org and 4 more
  102. 2019Doris Day's husband died in 1968 and she learned her lawyer and her husband had lost her earnings; a court awarded the couple $26,396,511FindLaw Caselaw and 3 more
  103. 1990Jim Henson died during a $150 million sale to Disney, his children ended the deal and sued Disney, and the Muppets went to Disney anyway in 2004The Seattle Times and 4 more
  104. 2008Michael Crichton's son was born after his death and left out of his will; in 2024 his estate sued Warner Bros., calling The Pitt an ER rebootNBC News and 5 more
  105. 1968A jury awarded John Steinbeck's stepdaughter more than $13 million against his son's family for blocking films of his novelsusatoday.com and 3 more
  106. 1984Truman Capote's ashes were divided, stolen at a party, returned in a garden hose, and auctioned in 2016Wikipedia (English)
  107. 1998Sonny Bono's widow used a 2016 copyright termination notice to stop paying Cher her half of his song royalties, and a federal judge ruled for CherCourtListener and 15 more
  108. 1973Jim Croce's widow sued his producers and their lawyer over the contracts he signed in 1968, and won only against the lawyerquimbee.com and 2 more
  109. 2015Scott Weiland's 2007 will made his ex-wife executor over his widow, and she spent years settling his tax liens and lawsuitslanacion.com.ar and 5 more
  110. 2012Donna Summer's estate refused Kanye West permission to use "I Feel Love," sued when he used it anyway, and made him agree never to distribute the songthegrio.com and 3 more
  111. 1986L. Ron Hubbard was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea within a day of his death in January 1986, after his son had sued to have him declared deadcs.cmu.edu and 4 more
  112. 2001Dale Earnhardt's widow got Florida to seal his autopsy photos, and 18 states copied the lawNBC News and 3 more
  113. 2003Elliott Smith's partner sued his estate for lifetime support, and a talent-agent law voided their whole agreementdir.ca.gov and 2 more
  114. 1990Stevie Ray Vaughan's mother and brother sued the helicopter company; his fiancée was left out of the estate, and thieves later took his belongings from Jimmie's storage unitorlandosentinel.com and 4 more
  115. 2016Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband ran her estate as conservator and moved most of her ashes to Budapesttmz.com and 3 more
  116. 1971Louis Armstrong's will said he had no children, his widow's nieces contested her will, and his letter called a girl born in 1955 his "Little Satchmo"wealthmanagement.com and 3 more
  117. 1964Sam Cooke was shot by a motel manager who then sued his estate, and his manager's company already owned his recordingsInternet Archive and 2 more
  118. 2017Jerry Lewis's will excluded all six sons from his first marriage and their childrenavclub.com and 1 more
  119. 2005Arthur Miller kept his son Daniel with Down syndrome out of public view and left him an equal share of the estate six weeks before he diedNPR and 3 more
  120. 2023Jimmy Buffett left his widow a $275 million trust with his accountant as co-trustee, and each has asked a court to remove the othercdn.theconversation.com and 8 more
  121. 2022Jerry Lee Lewis put his ranch in his manager's name to hide it from the IRS; after he died, a judge ordered his son out and the manager's heirs listed it for $1.6 millionsavingcountrymusic.com and 4 more
  122. 1995Jerry Garcia's widow barred his ex-wives from his funeral and stopped paying his $5 million divorce settlementus.cnn.com and 3 more
  123. 1985Ricky Nelson died in a plane fire owing money; his ex-wife tried to take over the estate, lost, then fought her brother Mark Harmon for custody of their sonUPI and 4 more
  124. 2020Little Richard's brother emailed the buyer about elder abuse and racism, the buyer withdrew its offer for the estate's rights, and the court took away his sharetncourts.gov and 2 more
  125. 2016Glenn Frey's widow sued Mount Sinai for his death and was ordered to hand over the Eagles' contractslaw.justia.com and 5 more
  126. 2024O.J. Simpson paid little of the $33.5 million judgment while alive, and in 2025 his executor accepted a $58 million claim from Ron Goldman's fatherfindlaw.com and 2 more
  127. 1953Hank Williams' daughter was born five days after his death, made a ward of the state, and won half his estate 34 years laterpeople.com and 2 more
  128. 2018XXXTentacion was shot dead at 20, and his son was born seven months later outside his willnbcmiami.com and 2 more
  129. 2004Dimebag Darrell was shot dead on stage with no will; his girlfriend of two decades was left out, later took over his estate's trust, and lost most of its suit against Dean Guitars in 2026blabbermouth.net and 4 more
  130. 2007Evel Knievel's family company sued Disney over Toy Story 4's Duke Caboom, and two federal courts held the toy daredevil transformed his likenessworldipreview.com and 7 more
  131. 2017Glen Campbell's wills cut out three of his eight children, and they challenged his capacity after Alzheimer'snewschannel5.com and 2 more
  132. 1959Frank Lloyd Wright's grave in Wisconsin was emptied 26 years after his burial, and his body was cremated for Arizonaarabnews.pk and 4 more
  133. 1983Dennis Wilson's estranged wife had him buried at sea with White House help, against his brother's plan to bury him beside their fatherreaganlibrary.gov and 2 more
  134. 2023Michael Oher of "The Blind Side" learned he was never adopted, and a judge ended the Tuohy conservatorshiptoday.com and 2 more
  135. 2004Rick James's trust was sued for $50 million by a woman who says he raped her at 15 in a Buffalo group homebtpm.org and 4 more
  136. 2017Lil Peep's mother sued his management company for wrongful death and settled with control of his musicfoxla.com and 1 more
  137. 1953Jim Thorpe's widow sold his body to two Pennsylvania towns, which renamed themselves after himpenntoday.upenn.edu and 3 more
  138. 2014Joan Rivers's executors sued the Manhattan clinic where she stopped breathing during a throat procedure and settled in 2016 for an undisclosed sumamp.insurancejournal.com and 6 more
  139. 1987Liberace's doctor signed a death certificate that hid AIDS; the coroner pulled his embalmed body back for an autopsyLos Angeles Times and 5 more
  140. 2013Tom Clancy signed a codicil 68 days before he died, and the top court of Maryland ruled 4 to 3 that it freed his widow's family trust from estate taxmdcourts.gov and 3 more
  141. 1959Billie Holiday died under arrest in a hospital bed with 70 cents in the banklegacy.com and 2 more
  142. 2001Anthony Quinn bought 29 acres on Rhodes in 1960, a Greek court cancelled the sale in 1984, and he died before he was repaidtovima.com and 4 more
  143. 1969A Florida judge ruled that the will giving Jack Kerouac's estate to his widow's family was forged, and the ruling changed nothingnbcmiami.com and 3 more
  144. 2010A Utah judge ruled Gary Coleman's ex-wife was not his common-law wife; his ashes were locked in a vaultCNN and 1 more
  145. 1963Patsy Cline's brother sued her sister over Patsy's stage clothes, and a judge ordered the dresses sold to pay the lawyeroocities.org and 2 more
  146. 1991The IRS seized Redd Foxx's Las Vegas home, seven vehicles and bank accounts in 1989, and his estate was still in probate with an IRS lien in 2006probatelawyerblog.com and 4 more
  147. 2014Casey Kasem's wife and children fought over his care until he died, then she took his body to Norwayabc7.com and 3 more
  148. 1967A cousin with only a life estate sold John Coltrane's Philadelphia house for $100,000, and his sons sued to take it backinquirer.com and 2 more
  149. 1999Fred Trump's grandchildren contested his will in 2000, and Donald Trump and 2 siblings cut off health insurance for them and an ailing babygibsondunn.com and 4 more
  150. 1994Harry Nilsson's business manager stole his savings, and he died in Chapter 11 owing 75 creditorsThe Seattle Times and 2 more
  151. 2025Bill Gates said in May 2025 the Gates Foundation will spend its endowment and close on 31 December 2045The New York Times and 3 more
  152. 2023Tony Bennett's daughters sued their brother, his manager and trustee, saying a man who earned $100 million left under $7 millionnews4jax.com and 3 more
  153. 1995Lana Turner left her daughter $50,000 and the rest of a $1.7 million trust to her maid of 45 yearsLos Angeles Times and 1 more
  154. 2023Rupert Murdoch tried to rewrite his family trust so Lachlan would control his companies, and a Nevada commissioner found they acted in bad faithwashoecourts.com and 8 more
  155. 1910Mark Twain fired his secretary Isabel Lyon in 1909 and wrote 429 pages accusing her and her husband, a text kept private until 2015lynncullen.com and 1 more
  156. 2022Naomi Judd's will named her husband executor, and her family sued to keep the police file on her death sealedNBC News and 5 more
  157. 1993Raymond Burr left everything to his partner Robert Benevides, and a judge threw out his niece's claim of undue influence in 1994pressdemocrat.com and 3 more
  158. 2012Gore Vidal changed his trust in 2011 to leave everything to Harvard, and his half-sister and nephew suedwashingtonian.com and 3 more
  159. 2010J.D. Salinger blocked an unauthorised Catcher in the Rye sequel, and his estate settled to keep it out of North America until the copyright endspublishersweekly.com and 2 more
  160. 1956Jackson Pollock's mistress Ruth Kligman claimed he painted Red, Black & Silver for her weeks before his 1956 crash, and his widow Lee Krasner and the Pollock-Krasner board rejected itThe Art Newspaper and 3 more
  161. 2016Harper Lee's second novel was published when she was frail and her lawyer controlled her affairs; her will stayed sealed until The New York Times suedthebookseller.com and 3 more
  162. 1977Groucho Marx's companion lost the fight over his estate, and his heirs lost the rights to his actCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 2 more
  163. 1996Bradley Nowell had registered the name Sublime to himself, and his estate got a federal injunction against his own bandmatesnews.pollstar.com and 4 more
  164. 2024Warren Buffett's will once named the Gates Foundation; he removed it in 2024 and stopped his lifetime gifts to it in 2026wowt.com and 4 more
  165. 2007Ike Turner wrote two handwritten wills and revoked one; a judge found he died with no valid willsandiegouniontribune.com and 1 more
  166. 1978Bob Crane was bludgeoned to death in 1978, left everything to his estranged second wife, and the 1994 acquittal and 2016 DNA retest never named a killerCNN and 3 more
  167. 1982Randy Rhoads's mother gave filmmakers his photos for a documentary that never came out, and an appeals court let them publish a book insteadblabbermouth.net and 4 more
  168. 2021Larry King's handwritten 2019 will left his estate to five children, two of whom died before him, and his estranged wife Shawn contested itwsbtv.com and 3 more
  169. 2008Paul Newman left his food company to a foundation run by his adviser, his daughter said the family was pushed out, and Congress changed the law for itCornell Law School, LII and 2 more
  170. 1994Jack Kirby's heirs served 45 copyright termination notices on Marvel; the Second Circuit ruled his work was for hire in 2013 and the case settled in 2014leagle.com and 3 more
  171. 1973Gram Parsons' road manager stole his body from Los Angeles airport and burned it in Joshua Treeamericansongwriter.com and 3 more
  172. 2022Wendy Williams has been under a guardianship since 2022 and is still asking a New York court to end itatlantablackstar.com and 3 more
  173. 2008Isaac Hayes lost his song royalties to a bank in bankruptcy; his heirs took one song back and sued Donald Trump over ittnwb.uscourts.gov and 4 more
  174. 1998Tammy Wynette's daughters sued her husband for $50 million, and her body was exhumed for an autopsymtv.com and 2 more
  175. 1966Lenny Bruce died broke in 1966 with an appeal pending, and New York pardoned him in 2003Internet Archive and 4 more
  176. 1978Norman Rockwell's sons sued to stop the Berkshire Museum selling paintings he gave it, and Shuffleton's Barbershop went to George Lucas's museumberkshiremuseum.org and 10 more
  177. 1956Bela Lugosi's widow and son sued Universal over Dracula merchandise and lost in 1979Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 2 more
  178. 2003Barry White never divorced the wife he separated from in 1988; she became his executor, and 2 of his children later sued her over stopped paymentsthegrio.com and 3 more
  179. 2012Etta James's husband and her son fought in court over her $1 million while she was dying of leukemiathegrio.com and 4 more
  180. 2016Juan Gabriel left everything to one son, and a man claiming to be another son asked a court for part of his remainsloeb.com and 2 more
  181. 2022A Miami businessman burned a drawing he said was Frida Kahlo's to sell 10,000 NFTs, and Mexico investigated because her work is a national monumentSmithsonian Magazine and 2 more
  182. 2002Ted Williams's will asked for his ashes to be scattered at sea, two of his children had him frozen in Arizona, and an ex-employee said his head was severedInternet Archive and 14 more
  183. 2016Zaha Hadid's business partner sued her three co-executors in London over a roughly £70 million estate and lost a key ruling in November 2020The National Archives, Find Case Law and 3 more
  184. 1991Gene Roddenberry's first wife sued his estate for Star Trek profits and lost 2-1 on appeal in 1996; his widow's 2009 trust left their son $60 million and the dogs a $4 million home trustDeseret News and 2 more
  185. 2013Jerry Buss's sons tried to vote their sister off the Lakers board; she went to court and removed one of them as trusteeespn.com and 2 more
  186. 1953Eugene O'Neill disowned his daughter Oona in 1943, and his widow Carlotta released Long Day's Journey Into Night in 1956 against his 25-year bantheatermania.com and 2 more
  187. 1974Christine Chubbuck shot herself on live television in 1974, and her station's tape has been held privately sinceaol.com and 2 more
  188. 1953Dylan Thomas lost the Under Milk Wood manuscript in a Soho pub, his producer found it and sold it for £2,000, and his widow Caitlin lost her suit to get it backarchives.library.wales and 4 more
  189. 1997Townes Van Zandt's ex-wife ran his estate, his eldest son questioned her title to the songs, and the family spent 11 years fighting the label that held his mastersaustinchronicle.com and 2 more
  190. 1981Joe Louis owed the IRS more than $1 million and ended his life as a casino greeter in Las Vegasnmaahc.si.edu and 3 more
  191. 1984Jackie Coogan earned $3 million as a child; $252,000 was left when he sued his mothergov.ca.gov and 1 more
  192. 2022Nichelle Nichols's son became her conservator in 2019 and fought her manager in court; after her 2022 death a jury awarded her family $13 million, capped at $400,000abqjournal.com and 4 more
  193. 1940F. Scott Fitzgerald left an estate of about $35,000 in 1940, and the Catholic church refused his burial plot until his daughter petitioned in 1975blogs.library.duke.edu and 3 more
  194. 1989Robert Mapplethorpe inherited three quarters of Sam Wagstaff's $7 million estate over the sister's challenge, left his own parents nothing, and was tried posthumously in Cincinnatimentalfloss.com and 4 more
  195. 1974Duke Ellington's grandchildren beat their father's estate for his royalties, then lost to EMI over foreign earningsnycourts.gov and 5 more
  196. 1970Mark Rothko's executors sold 798 of his paintings to a gallery one of them worked for, and his 19-year-old daughter suedrothko.nga.gov and 3 more
  197. 1987Jaco Pastorius died broke after a club bouncer beat him, his estate nearly closed with debts, and his stolen bass took four years of litigation to get backbpb-experimental.voicemediagroup.com and 3 more
  198. 2016Lou Pearlman built the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC on a $300 million Ponzi scheme, fled to Bali, and died in prison as investors got 6 cents on the dollarInternet Archive and 4 more
  199. 2002John Entwistle's executors sold his guitars, his cars, his house and its last 700 lots within three years of his death; his ashes stayed in the groundsInternet Archive and 5 more
  200. 2015B.B. King's daughters accused his manager and his assistant of poisoning him; the coroner found no poison and the manager kept control of the estateCBS News and 4 more
  201. 1955Charlie Parker's wife, his partner and his mother fought over his body, and he was buried where he asked not to beInternet Archive and 3 more
  202. 2019MacKenzie Scott left her marriage with 4 percent of Amazon and gave Jeff Bezos the votesInternet Archive and 2 more
  203. 1983Muddy Waters' heirs spent 35 years fighting his manager over his copyrightsChicago Tribune and 2 more
  204. 1968Three women claimed to be Frankie Lymon's widow, and New York courts had to decide who owned his share of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love"law.resource.org and 3 more
  205. 1995J. Howard Marshall II's widow Anna Nicole Smith won $474 million in a bankruptcy court, and after two Supreme Court cases her estate got nothingCornell Law School, LII and 8 more
  206. 1925A judge took 10-year-old Gloria Vanderbilt from her mother and gave her and her trust to her auntencyclopedia.com and 3 more
  207. 2021Bernie Madoff died in prison, his sons' estates gave up their fortunes, and the trustee recovered $15.5 billionmadofftrustee.com and 3 more
  208. 2000Big Pun's widow sued Fat Joe for his posthumous royalties, saying payments stopped in 2005thesource.com and 4 more
  209. 1973Marjorie Merriweather Post deeded Mar-a-Lago to the nation, and Congress handed it back in a Lake Tahoe land billgovinfo.gov and 6 more
  210. 2012Sherman Hemsley's body stayed in a funeral home refrigerator for months while a half-brother contested his willCNN and 2 more
  211. 1932Paul Bern was found shot two months after marrying Jean Harlow, his common-law wife Dorothy Millette drowned days later, and a judge made Harlow executor of his estateebsco.com and 5 more
  212. 1960Loretta Young hid her daughter by Clark Gable in orphanages, then "adopted" her, and admitted the truth only in a book published after her deathThe New York Times and 2 more
  213. 2011Gil Scott-Heron died with no will; his daughter said a DNA test showed his son was not his, and a Manhattan court ruled the son was an heirInternet Archive and 3 more
  214. 2025Sly Stone was living in a van when a jury awarded him $5 million in stolen royalties, and the award against his manager was reversedthegrio.com and 2 more
  215. 1999Curtis Mayfield's manager ran his estate; his widow said the manager borrowed against the songs and took about $920,000 in commissionsfoxnews.com and 3 more
  216. 2003Celia Cruz left everything to her husband; one of her executors sued the other for draining his money while he had dementiaCBS News and 4 more
  217. 1991A lawyer sued KISS in the name of Eric Carr's estate, and Carr's family said they had never authorized itloudwire.com and 4 more
  218. 1938Robert Johnson died in 1938 with nothing, and a Mississippi court found his heir 62 years laterThe Seattle Times and 3 more
  219. 1960A yardman burned Zora Neale Hurston's belongings after she died in a county welfare home in 1960, and a deputy sheriff put out the firearchive.news.ufl.edu and 3 more
  220. 1984Jackie Wilson spent eight years in a coma under a court-appointed guardian, died $300,000 in debt, and was buried in an unmarked gravealbanyherald.com and 4 more
  221. 1943The US government sealed Nikola Tesla's papers after he died, his nephew took them to Belgrade, and the church and scientists later fought over his ashesCornell Law School, LII and 4 more
  222. 2019El Chapo was ordered to forfeit $12.6 billion, and two of the sons who inherited his cartel faction pleaded guilty in Chicagoapi-prod.gothamist.com and 2 more
  223. 1993Doris Duke left $1.2 billion with her butler as executor, and a court-appointed lawyer said her doctor hastened her deathCornell Law School, LII and 3 more
  224. 2007Leona Helmsley left $12 million in trust for her dog Trouble and nothing to 2 grandchildren, and a judge cut the dog's trust to $2 millionNBC News and 14 more
  225. 2012Thomas Kinkade's girlfriend produced handwritten notes leaving her his mansion and $10 million, and his estranged wife said he was drunk when he wrote themCBS News and 3 more
  226. 2008Bo Diddley's will gave his managers 30 percent of his songs forever, a judge let them sell the catalog to pay the IRS, and 22 heirs objectedfloridaprobatelawgroup.com and 2 more
  227. 1926Rudolph Valentino's will gave his ex-wife $1, and his body went into a borrowed cryptCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 2 more
  228. 2018Whitey Bulger hid $822,000 in the walls of his Santa Monica flat, and the Marshals sold his belongings for his victims' familiesCBS News and 3 more
  229. 2020Charley Pride's son by a flight attendant was left out of the will, barred from the funeral, and sued the widow of 60 yearsnbcdfw.com and 3 more
  230. 2016A former baker bought a prince's title by adult adoption, sold it on to adopted sons, and became Zsa Zsa Gabor's heirgoodmorningamerica.com and 4 more
  231. 1961The US government seized Dashiell Hammett's royalties for back taxes, and after he died Lillian Hellman took control of his copyrightsLondon Review of Books and 3 more
  232. 1947Al Capone went to prison for tax evasion and paid every cent, a live TV search for his vault found nothing, and his family sold his pistol for $860,000fbi.gov and 3 more
  233. 1974Charles Lindbergh had seven secret children in Germany, confirmed by DNA 29 years after his deathmnhs.org and 2 more
  234. 2003Strom Thurmond's family confirmed his Black daughter six months after his death, and South Carolina added her name to his monumentThe New York Times and 4 more
  235. 2009Allen Klein managed three Beatles, sued them for $19 million after they fired him, and took $5 million to settlelaw.resource.org and 4 more
  236. 1917Buffalo Bill's 1913 will gave everything to Louisa; Denver newspaper owners held his $20,000 debt, and Wyoming has claimed his body since 1917cowboystatedaily.com and 2 more
  237. 1951Doctors took Henrietta Lacks's cells without her knowledge in 1951, and her estate has settled with Thermo Fisher and Novartisthebanner.com and 2 more
  238. 1906John D. Rockefeller's father lived 50 years as "Dr. Levingston" with a second wife and was buried under the false nameLibrary of Congress and 4 more
  239. 1937George Gershwin died at 38 without a will, and the Gershwin trusts lobbied Congress for 20 more years of copyrightLibrary of Congress and 5 more
  240. 1992Alex Haley died owing about $1.5 million, his estate auctioned his Pulitzer for $50,000, and Betty Shabazz sued over the Malcolm X manuscriptstuff.mit.edu and 3 more
  241. 2024Norman Jewison's three children sued after he changed his will two months before his death in 2024; the claims were settled by mediation and never tested in courtcbc.ca and 3 more
  242. 1948Zelda Fitzgerald died locked in a fifth-floor room when fire destroyed Highland Hospital in 1948; nine women died and no one was chargeddncr.nc.gov and 2 more
  243. 1983The FBI believed Meyer Lansky had $300 million hidden; he died in Miami with less than $35,000 in the bankthemobmuseum.org and 2 more
  244. 2012Maurice Sendak's foundation and the Rosenbach Museum fought for two years in a Connecticut probate court over his rare-book collectionSmithsonian Magazine and 3 more
  245. 1979Conrad Hilton left his hotel shares to his foundation, and his son Barron spent 10 years in court winning them backLos Angeles Times and 3 more
  246. 1962Ernie Kovacs's mother sued his widow, Edie Adams, over how she paid his tax debtsCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 3 more
  247. 1925The Hagiwara family kept San Francisco's Japanese Tea Garden for 47 years; the 1942 removal orders took it, and the city paid two survivors $5,000 each in 1983goldengatepark.substack.com and 3 more
  248. 1969John Kennedy Toole's mother got A Confederacy of Dunces published, then fought a bookseller and Toole's relatives over The Neon Bible until 1989finding-aids.lib.unc.edu and 3 more
  249. 2012Celeste Holm's sons sued her fifth husband over a 2002 trust, the fight ran about six years, and she died in 2012 with a $13 million estate and a settlement forcing him out of her apartmentdnainfo.com and 4 more
  250. 1997Gianni Versace was shot dead in Miami and left half his fashion house to his 11-year-old niecesec.gov and 5 more
  251. 1923Nan Britton lost her libel suit over Warren Harding's daughter in 1931, and DNA proved the daughter was his in 2015The New York Times and 4 more
  252. 1997James Michener gave away about $117 million and left the bulk of his estate to Swarthmore CollegeInternet Archive and 3 more
  253. 1991Skull and Bones' alumni trust changed the locks on the Tomb in 1991 when the seniors tapped seven women, and William F. Buckley went to court to stop the initiationDeseret News and 6 more
  254. 1947Aleister Crowley died with £430 and left his writings to his order, and a federal court decided in 1985 which of the rival orders owned themaleistercrowleytimeline.com and 3 more
  255. 1950The Lubavitcher Rebbe's grandson sold books from the movement's library as his inheritance; a federal court ruled the library was never the Rebbe's to leaveCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 3 more
  256. 1991Martha Graham left her dances to Ron Protas in 1991, and federal courts ruled from 2002 to 2006 that her own center owned themFindLaw Caselaw and 3 more
  257. 2008Robert Rauschenberg's art trust grew from $605.6 million to $2.2 billion, and a Florida judge gave his three trustees $24.6 million in feesflprobatelitigation.com and 6 more
  258. 1941Oklahoma oilman E.W. Marland annulled his adoption of his wife's niece and married her, then lost his company to J.P. Morgan's bankersokhistory.org and 4 more
  259. 1936Robert E. Howard shot himself in June 1936 and his mother died a day or two later; a will naming a friend was reportedly lost, and the Conan rights passed to a nurse's daughterUPI and 2 more
  260. 1979A French woman sued Darryl F. Zanuck's estate for $15 million in 1980, saying his son had her cut from the will; the case ended in 1988 with her claim going to a universityUPI and 4 more
  261. 1949Lead Belly's family trust sued his publishers in 2026 over 49 songs it took back by copyright terminationmusicbusinessworldwide.com and 1 more
  262. 1942L.M. Montgomery's death certificate said coronary thrombosis; her granddaughter wrote in 2008 that she took her own lifecbc.ca and 3 more
  263. 1994Martha Raye married a man 33 years younger and left him her $2 million estate, after her daughter sued for conservatorshipamericanhistory.si.edu and 3 more
  264. 1974The Amityville house sold for $80,000 after six murders; the family that fled sued, and a judge called their story largely fictionpsi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk and 2 more
  265. 1983Balanchine's 1983 will split the rights to about 100 ballets among a handful of friends, and the heirs formed a Trusteasthamptonstar.com and 3 more
  266. 1849Edgar Allan Poe's self-appointed literary executor was his enemy, who wrote his obituary under a false name and rewrote his lettersbpl.org and 3 more
  267. 1976Fort Worth oil heir Cullen Davis was tried for killing his stepdaughter and for hiring a hitman to kill his divorce judge, was acquitted, and later listed $865 million in debtsUPI and 4 more
  268. 2025The Hudson's Bay Company sold Rupert's Land for £300,000 in 1869, went insolvent in 2025, and sold its 1670 charter for $18 millionmanitobamuseum.ca and 7 more
  269. 1917Scott Joplin died in a state hospital without a will, his papers were lost in a trustee's estate, and his widow's trust won $177,980 in 1977academic.oup.com and 3 more
  270. 2019The Sacklers drew $11 billion out of Purdue Pharma, museums removed their name, and the Supreme Court voided their release in 2024Supreme Court of the United States and 2 more
  271. 1974Anne Sexton's psychiatrist gave about 300 therapy tapes to her biographer after her death, with her daughter's consent as literary executor, and ethicists condemned itpsych.upenn.edu and 2 more
  272. 2017Arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi's ex-wife won a divorce payment reported near $874 million, then the largest on recordfindlaw.com and 2 more
  273. 1989Edward Abbey wrote instructions to be buried without a coffin or permit, and friends buried him in the Arizona desert two days after he diedabbeyweb.net and 3 more
  274. 1892Lizzie Borden was acquitted of killing her father and stepmother, inherited his fortune with her sister, and wrote her sister out of her willus-data.org and 1 more
  275. 2009Vivian Maier was a nanny who died unknown; after her photographs sold, Cook County took over her estate to find out who owned themnews.wttw.com and 3 more
  276. 2021Japan's Princess Mako refused a ¥140 million payout to marry a commoner and lost her royal statusWikipedia (English) and 1 more
  277. 1949Margaret Mitchell's estate sued to stop a novel retelling Gone With the Wind from the view of a slave, and ended up funding a Black collegeopenjurist.org and 3 more
  278. 2020Steve Bing's father asked a court to rule that Bing's two children born outside marriage were not his grandchildren, and lostwealthmanagement.com and 3 more
  279. 1955Ann Woodward shot her husband, the owner of Nashua, a grand jury cleared her in 30 minutes, and both her sons later killed themselvesbiography.com and 2 more
  280. 1979Barbara Hutton inherited the Woolworth fortune at 21, married seven times, and died with $3,500 in the banklegacy.suntimes.com and 2 more
  281. 1945Béla Bartók's New York estate was in court for 22 years, and the trustee claimed his manuscriptsCourtListener and 4 more
  282. 1990Armand Hammer built his museum with Occidental Petroleum money and died with shareholders, his son and USC in courtLos Angeles Times and 2 more
  283. 1907Cassie Chadwick said she was Andrew Carnegie's illegitimate daughter, borrowed against forged Carnegie notes, and broke an Ohio bankcase.edu and 3 more
  284. 2007Brooke Astor's son was convicted of looting her estate while she had Alzheimer'sNBC News and 2 more
  285. 1974Louis Kahn died unidentified in a Penn Station restroom, owing hundreds of thousands of dollars, with three families at his funeraldesignmuseum.org and 3 more
  286. 1922Shackleton died about £40,000 in debt, his widow chose his grave on South Georgia, and his brother went to prison for fraudsgmuseum.gs and 7 more
  287. 2022Bernie Worrell's widow sued George Clinton for half of 264 Parliament-Funkadelic recordings, and an appeals court sent the case to trialmusicbusinessworldwide.com and 4 more
  288. 2019Pat Bowlen's trust was meant to keep the Broncos in his family; two daughters and his brother sued, and the team was soldcpr.org and 2 more
  289. 1951Hearst's will locked his company in a trust until every relative alive in 1951 dies, and the company gave his castle to Californiaohp.parks.ca.gov and 7 more
  290. 1991Jerzy Kosiński was accused of plagiarism and ghostwriting in 1982 and killed himself in 1991 with a plastic bag over his headEncyclopaedia Britannica and 3 more
  291. 1992Freddie Bartholomew's parents lost a court fight with his aunt over the boy and his MGM salaryCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 1 more
  292. 2018Tom Benson's daughter and grandchildren sued to have him declared incompetent after he gave the Saints to his third wifeespn.com and 2 more
  293. 2023Chuck Feeney secretly handed his Duty Free Shoppers stake to a foundation in 1984, gave away more than $8 billion, and kept about $2 millionatlanticphilanthropies.org and 2 more
  294. 2011Huguette Clark's second will cut out her relatives and left her nurse about $30 million, and the relatives settled for $34.5 millionNBC News and 5 more
  295. 1914George Vanderbilt's widow sold most of Biltmore's land to the United States, and his grandsons split the house from the dairyncpedia.org and 5 more
  296. 1917Henry Flagler's widow left $5 million to her new husband in a codicil signed eight days before she died, and her family dug up her bodyebsco.com and 2 more
  297. 1984Anna Anderson claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia for 64 years and fought German courts for 32 years for the Romanov moneyJournal article (DOI) and 2 more
  298. 1891P.T. Barnum's will paid a grandson to take the Barnum name; sources give the sum as $25,000 or a share of the estatecollections.ctdigitalarchive.org and 4 more
  299. 2008Jocelyn Wildenstein's divorce was reported at $2.5 billion, and the judge barred her from spending alimony on surgeryatlantablackstar.com and 2 more
  300. 1947Harry Thaw's mother spent the family fortune to free him after he shot Stanford White, and his will left Evelyn Nesbit $10,000encyclopedia.com and 4 more
  301. 2017An H. L. Hunt great-grandson took a nine-figure settlement and promised not to contest his father's will, then contested itca5.uscourts.gov and 3 more
  302. 1980H.L. Hunt's sons bought a third of the world's silver, lost more than $1 billion, and filed for bankruptcy after a Peruvian state company won in courtDeseret News and 2 more
  303. 1974Oilman H.L. Hunt had three families with 15 children, and the wife from his bigamous marriage sued his heirs four years after his deathUPI and 3 more
  304. 2001Zhang Xueliang inherited his murdered father's Manchurian army in 1928 and spent more than 50 years in detentionlibrary.columbia.edu and 4 more
  305. 1936Four states and the United States claimed $37.7 million in death taxes from Hetty Green's son's $36 million estateCornell Law School, LII and 3 more
  306. 1970Barnett Newman's "Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III" was slashed in Amsterdam in 1986; a $400,000 restoration was judged to have destroyed itdutchnews.nl and 3 more
  307. 1826Thomas Jefferson's will freed his two youngest sons by Sally Hemings, and his debts sent 130 enslaved people to auctionnature.com and 4 more
  308. 1990Joe Robbie's nine children sued each other, his widow claimed her 30 percent, and a $47 million tax bill forced the sale of the DolphinsTampa Bay Times and 2 more
  309. 1886Emily Dickinson's poems were edited by her brother's mistress, and her sister sued the mistress for a strip of landarchive.emilydickinson.org and 3 more
  310. 1947The Hope Diamond's curse story was sold with the stone in 1911; its owner's will put it in trust for her grandchildren, and her trustees sold it to pay her debtsthe-cartiers.com and 2 more
  311. 2015Kirk Kerkorian's investigator took Steve Bing's dental floss from the trash and proved Kerkorian's "daughter" was Bing's childdailyjournal.com and 4 more
  312. 2015Kirk Kerkorian left $2 billion to charity, and his 57-day wife was paid to go awayLos Angeles Times and 2 more
  313. 1892Walt Whitman's brain was removed at his autopsy for a brain club and was destroyed within a yearpubs.lib.uiowa.edu and 2 more
  314. 1955Peary and Henson each fathered a son in Greenland, and Henson was moved beside Peary at Arlington in 1988arlingtoncemetery.mil and 3 more
  315. 1982Alfred Bloomingdale's mistress sued his dying body for palimony, was beaten to death a year later, and her estate won $200,000UPI and 3 more
  316. 1891Herman Melville's widow tied his unpublished papers in bundles in 1891, and Billy Budd stayed in a breadbox until a biographer opened it in 1919harvardfilmarchive.org and 3 more
  317. 2020Sumner Redstone's ex-girlfriend said he was incompetent, the judge disagreed, and his daughter took control of CBS and Viacomfortune.com and 2 more
  318. 2012Harold Hamm's ex-wife refused his $974.8 million check, then cashed it and lost her appeal for moreNBC News and 2 more
  319. 2009Maurice Jarre left his estate to his widow through a California trust, and France's highest court said his children's reserved share did not follow him abroadlegavox.fr and 4 more
  320. 1946W.C. Fields paid his son's mother $20,000 to deny he was the father, and his will's orphan college lost to the wife he never divorcedThe New York Times and 2 more
  321. 1967Jo Hopper left the Whitney more than 3,000 Edward Hopper works in 1968; a critic alleges a Nyack minister who shared the residue took hundreds more, and the museum has declined to pursue itbostonglobe.com and 3 more
  322. 2019José José's older children searched Miami hospitals and funeral homes for his body, and two wills name different heirshola.com and 2 more
  323. 1976Gordon Getty, sole trustee of the family trust, sold Getty Oil to Texaco, and his nieces petitioned to remove himFindLaw Caselaw and 3 more
  324. 2018Magna founder Frank Stronach sued his daughter and grandchildren over the family's racing empireglobalnews.ca and 2 more
  325. 1946William S. Hart left his only son nothing and his ranch to Los Angeles County; the son fought for a decadeCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 2 more
  326. 1947Evalyn Walsh McLean wore the Hope Diamond through a son's death, a husband's insanity and the Lindbergh hoax, and her estate sold itthe-cartiers.com and 2 more
  327. 1885Sarah Althea Hill produced a marriage contract and a will from San Francisco's richest man, federal judges ruled them forged, and her husband was shot dead attacking a Supreme Court justiceCornell Law School, LII and 2 more
  328. 1995Seymour Durst passed over his eldest son, the family bought Robert out for about $65 million, and Robert died a convicted murdererpressdemocrat.com and 2 more
  329. 1992The Canterbury Shakers closed membership in 1957, refused to recognize the converts at Sabbathday Lake, and the last Shaker community has three members in 2025archive.boston.com and 3 more
  330. 1983A Johnson & Johnson heir left $400 million to the maid he married, and his six children suedUPI and 3 more
  331. 1991Electra Waggoner Biggs sued in 1991 to sell her family's oil-and-cattle ranch, and after 25 years a court receiver sold it to Stan Kroenkefoxnews.com and 2 more
  332. 1834The heiress to the land around New Orleans's main square was shot four times by her father-in-law over her fortune, survived, and built the Pontalba Buildingslouisianastatemuseum.org and 3 more
  333. 2006The Satmar Rebbe's will named his younger son successor; New York's highest court refused to decide which son controls the congregationCornell Law School, LII and 4 more
  334. 1920The Dodge brothers sued Henry Ford for dividends, sold him their shares for $25 million, and both died within a yearTime and 3 more
  335. 2018New York shut down the Donald J. Trump Foundation in 2018 and Trump paid $2 million to eight charitiesag.ny.gov and 1 more
  336. 1939Sir Henry Pellatt built Casa Loma with Home Bank loans, the bank failed, and Toronto took the castle for unpaid taxesDictionary of Canadian Biography and 3 more
  337. 1990Malcolm Forbes spent 25 years buying the tsars' Fabergé eggs, his family sold all nine to a Russian billionaire before the auction, and the US sanctioned the buyer in 2018home.treasury.gov and 5 more
  338. 1922Sarah Winchester inherited a rifle fortune and built a San Jose mansion; the medium who supposedly ordered it was invented in 1967skeptoid.com and 2 more
  339. 2010Elaine Wynn's divorce left her shares voting with her ex-husband's, and she sued Wynn Resorts to break the pactfoxbusiness.com and 2 more
  340. 1947The Collyer brothers died in their inherited Harlem house under more than 100 tons of hoarded goods, and 56 people claimed the estatemessynessychic.com and 2 more
  341. 2013A granddaughter accused TV evangelists Paul and Jan Crouch in 2012 of spending their network's donations on themselvesLos Angeles Times and 2 more
  342. 1947The Fords put 90% of Ford Motor into a foundation and kept the votes, and Henry Ford II quit its board in 1976Internet Archive and 3 more
  343. 1951A Pennsylvania judge let the Barnes Foundation move Albert Barnes's art to Philadelphia in 2004, against his indenturelaw.justia.com and 3 more
  344. 1978J. Roderick MacArthur sued his late father's $1.5 billion foundation in 1984 and asked a court to liquidate itUPI and 2 more
  345. 1877The church claimed $999,000 of Brigham Young's estate, his heirs sued, and the three apostles who were his executors went to the penitentiarywilfordwoodruffpapers.org and 3 more
  346. 2025Nick Reiner, charged with killing Rob and Michele Reiner, sues for his $1.5 million trust fundDeadline and 5 more
  347. 2023Robert Blake was acquitted of murdering his wife, then ordered to pay her children $30 millionCNN and 2 more
  348. 2022Takeoff of Migos was shot dead with no will; his mother and father are fighting over the money the bowling alley paid for his deathcomplex.com and 4 more
  349. 2021DMX died without a will, leaving 15 children, a fiancée the court would not recognize, and an estate valued under $1 millionxxlmag.com and 3 more
  350. 2021Trustees for the family of Mondrian's heir Harry Holtzman sued the Philadelphia Museum of Art in December 2021 for a painting the Nazis took from a Hanover museum in 1937, valued at over $100 milliongovinfo.gov and 2 more
  351. 2020Jack Whittaker won a $314.9 million Powerball jackpot, and his granddaughter and daughter were found dead within seven yearswvencyclopedia.org and 2 more
  352. 2018Robert Indiana was sued the day before he died alone on a Maine island, and his LOVE estate spent years in courtmaine.gov and 3 more
  353. 2014Doctors declared Donald Sterling incapacitated, and his wife sold the Clippers out from under him for $2 billionNPR and 1 more
  354. 2012Whitney Houston left everything to her daughter; three years later the daughter died and the money went to Whitney's mother and brothersabcnews.com and 3 more
  355. 2012A Chicago man died of cyanide the day after his $1 million lottery check was issued, and his widow and siblings fought over the estateNBC News and 2 more
  356. 2012Davy Jones's 2004 will left out the wife he married in 2009; she petitioned for half as a pretermitted spouse and the family sealed the filem.flsenate.gov and 2 more
  357. 2009A woman took over a $30 million lottery winner's money, and police found him buried under a concrete slabNBC News and 2 more
  358. 2008Claus von Bülow was acquitted of trying to kill his wife, then gave up her fortune to settle her children's $56 million suitUPI and 2 more
  359. 2007The Winnie-the-Pooh rights holder sued Disney for 13 years, and lost because its investigator took Disney's trashthedailyrecord.com and 3 more
  360. 2004Ol' Dirty Bastard died without a will; his widow sued the Wu-Tang Clan for royalties while his children said they had received nothingblackenterprise.com and 1 more
  361. 2002Hall of Famer Mike Webster lived in his truck, died at 50, and his estate won his NFL disability pay after his deathThe New York Times and 3 more
  362. 1997Jack Kent Cooke's will ordered the Redskins sold to fund his foundation, and his son was outbid by Daniel Snyderphilanthropy.com and 3 more
  363. 1997Willem de Kooning's Woman-Ochre was cut from a Tucson museum frame in 1985 and found in 2017 at the estate sale of a retired coupleartmuseum.arizona.edu and 3 more
  364. 1996Tupac's mother beat his absent father in court and built his estate; her executor was then sued by Tupac's sisterLos Angeles Times and 4 more
  365. 1995Selena was shot by her fan club president; her father later sued her widower to stop a TV show about herksat.com and 2 more
  366. 1995Eazy-E married on his deathbed and left Ruthless Records to his bride; his son challenged the marriage 21 years latertheblast.com and 2 more
  367. 1986Georgia O'Keeffe's late codicils left most of a $65 million estate to her assistant, 58 years younger, and her family suedUPI and 3 more
  368. 1985A jury found Rock Hudson hid his AIDS from his lover and awarded $21.75 million against his estateLos Angeles Times and 2 more
  369. 1983Tennessee Williams left his $10 million estate to Sewanee and his brother $25,000; the brother sued for undue influence and settled for $100,000new.sewanee.edu and 4 more
  370. 1982A helicopter killed Vic Morrow and two child actors on the Twilight Zone set in 1982, and director John Landis and four others were tried for manslaughter and acquitted in 1987vice.com and 1 more
  371. 1979Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom drowned, his widow inherited 70 percent of the team, fired his son and moved the team to St. LouisTampa Bay Times and 3 more
  372. 1976Florence Ballard was put out of the Supremes, barred from using the name for a $139,804 payment, and was on welfare seven years laterlegacy.com and 3 more
  373. 1975The Three Stooges' heirs fought each other over royalties, then won the case that set the limits of a dead star's likenessCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 1 more
  374. 1973About 50 distant cousins of Henry Darger sued the landlords who saved his art, 49 years after his deathThe Art Newspaper and 3 more
  375. 1973A French court gave Renoir's assistant Richard Guino co-authorship of the Renoir sculptures in 1973; his heirs won a US infringement verdict against Renoir's great-grandson in 2008cases.justia.com and 3 more
  376. 1971Stravinsky's widow and children litigated his estate for four years, and the dispute over the royalties reached a New York appeals court in 2003nycourts.gov and 3 more
  377. 1958Jack Warner took control of Warner Bros. in 1956 after his brothers sold out; Harry died two years laterInternet Archive and 1 more
  378. 1809Thomas Paine's bones were dug up by an admirer, shipped to England and lostAmerican Heritage and 3 more
  379. 1882Robert Lincoln had his mother declared insane the day after detectives saw $56,000 in bonds sewn into her petticoatsencyclopedia.com and 2 more
  380. 1929The oil heir who carried $100,000 to the Interior Secretary was shot dead in his new mansion five months after moving infjc.gov and 4 more
  381. 2008Robert Mondavi was pushed out of his family's winery after a fight with his brother, sued, and wonwinespectator.com and 2 more
  382. 1877Cornelius Vanderbilt left nearly all of $100 million to one son, and the son he passed over argued spiritualism had unhinged himAmerican Heritage and 3 more
  383. 1997The Butlers sold Kilkenny Castle to the town for £50 in 1967, and the Ormonde earldoms went dormant in 1997kilkennycastle.ie and 5 more
  384. 2005Robert Kearns showed Ford his intermittent wiper, sued for decades, won about $30 million and lost his marriageDeseret News and 3 more
  385. 1812William Clark became court guardian of Sacagawea's two children in 1813 and freed York only years after the expeditionUS National Park Service and 5 more
  386. 1977An heiress and her nurse were killed inside Glensheen, and the adopted daughter who stood to inherit $8 million was acquittedInternet Archive and 4 more
  387. 1847The Navy declared Franklin's crews dead in 1854 while his wife paid for the search, and the wrecks found 160 years later belong partly to the InuitRoyal Museums Greenwich and 3 more
  388. 1989August Busch III ousted his father from Anheuser-Busch in a boardroom coup, and 33 years later the family lost the companyGoogle Books and 3 more
  389. 1913Adolphus Busch's widow stayed in Germany during World War I, and the US Alien Property Custodian took her share of the brewery until she came homemissourioverthere.org and 3 more
  390. 1905Jane Stanford, sole funder of Stanford University, died of strychnine in 1905 and the university president said it was natural causesInternet Archive and 2 more
  391. 1790Benjamin Franklin left Boston and Philadelphia £1,000 each for 200 years, and his heirs, a school and the state fought over itCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 2 more
  392. 2022Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju's family paid inheritance tax with 29.3 percent of his holding company, and the government could not find a buyerKorea JoongAng Daily and 2 more
  393. 1917Hawaii's last queen was imprisoned in an upstairs bedroom of her own palace, and the building served as the capitol of the government that removed her until 1969iolanipalace.org and 2 more
  394. 1987Clint Murchison Jr. inherited an oil fortune, bought the Dallas Cowboys for $550,000, and died $100 million short of his debtsUPI and 2 more
  395. 1947Joan Irvine Smith fought the foundation that controlled her grandfather's Irvine Ranch for 33 years and left with $256 millionLos Angeles Times and 2 more
  396. 1885Jumbo the elephant was killed by a train in 1885; his skeleton, hide, heart and ashes went to four different ownerstufts.edu and 3 more
  397. 1997Craig McCaw's ex-wife took about $460 million, mostly in Nextel stock, and bought a California newspaper with itThe Seattle Times and 2 more
  398. 1906Marshall Field's son was shot two months before he died, and his will locked his fortune away for the grandsons until 1943Time and 3 more
  399. 1850Margaret Fuller, her husband and their son drowned 100 yards from Fire Island in 1850, and her manuscript history of the Roman Republic was lostWikipedia (English)
  400. 1839A banker's nephews fought ten years over his jewels, and the heir who got the Hope Diamond could sell it only with the court's permissiongia.edu and 4 more
  401. 2004Dart Group's founder fired his son during his own divorce, then married on his deathbed and cut his children out of his willBloomberg and 3 more
  402. 2019In Knives Out, a novelist leaves everything to his nurse, his grandson frames her so the slayer rule will cut her out, and the plan failsthewealthadvisor.com and 2 more
  403. 1943Russia's culture minister demanded Rachmaninoff's remains back from New York, and his descendants said noSmithsonian Magazine and 3 more
  404. 1932A tobacco heir was shot at Reynolda, his pregnant widow was indicted for murder, and their son was paid $6.25 milliondncr.nc.gov and 4 more
  405. 1931Lillian Leitzel fell to her death in 1931, and her widower Alfredo Codona shot his third wife and himself in 1937 during a property splitcircusringoffame.org and 3 more
  406. 1926Houdini's great-nephew and two authors announced a 2007 plan to exhume his body to test for poisonwildabouthoudini.com and 2 more
  407. 1916Jack London left nearly his entire estate to his wife Charmian in 1916; she kept the ranch, evicted a biographer, and her 1938 will turned it into a state parkparks.ca.gov and 3 more
  408. 1919Griffith J. Griffith gave Los Angeles a 3,015-acre park, shot his wife and went to prison, and used his will to build the Griffith Observatorycdcr.ca.gov and 3 more
  409. 1809Meriwether Lewis died insolvent with his drafts refused by the War Department, and 198 relatives have not been allowed to exhume his bodyUS National Park Service and 7 more
  410. 2007Dow Jones's family owners split over Murdoch's $5 billion offer, and adviser fees helped decide the voteCNBC and 2 more
  411. 1973Mario Lalli called Robert "my son" in a notarized paper, and the Supreme Court still let New York shut him out of the estateCornell Law School, LII and 1 more
  412. 1950Calumet Farm passed to a widow for life, then to a grandson-in-law who ran up $127 million in debt and went to prisonThe Seattle Times and 3 more
  413. 1936John Ringling left his Venetian mansion and art museum to Florida and died with $311 in the bank, and the state fought his creditors for ten yearsringlingdocents.org and 4 more
  414. 1972Marie Robertson's heirs sued Princeton over her $35 million gift in 2002 and settled in 2008 with $40 million in legal fees repaidprinceton.edu and 1 more
  415. 1779Captain Cook's body was returned in pieces, and his widow outlived all six children and destroyed his letters before she died in 1835register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk and 6 more
  416. 1945The Hershey school paid $12 million for a failing golf course, and the attorney general twice demanded reforms of its boardphilly.com and 3 more
  417. 1900A lawyer and a valet killed William Marsh Rice in 1900 to take the fortune he left to found Rice Institutechroniclingamerica.loc.gov and 2 more
  418. 1975Beryl Buck left oil stock for Marin County, Shell's purchase made it worth $253 million, and a court kept it in Marinsfgate.com and 1 more
  419. 1904Three Lemps shot themselves in the family mansion, Prohibition closed the brewery, and the house now sells haunted toursstlouis-mo.gov and 4 more
  420. 2026CIA officer Aldrich Ames paid cash for a $540,000 house on a salary under $70,000; he and his wife forfeited the proceeds, and she went to prison while their son lived in Bogotáirp.fas.org and 3 more
  421. 2025Venezuela seized foreign oil projects in 2007, and a Delaware judge ordered its US refiner Citgo sold for $5.9 billion to pay the claimsAl Jazeera and 3 more
  422. 2023The SEC fined the LDS Church and Ensign Peak $5 million for hiding its stock portfolio behind 13 shell companiessec.gov and 2 more
  423. 2023FBI spy Robert Hanssen forfeited $1.4 million from Moscow and his pension, and his plea deal left his wife the house, three cars and a survivor annuityjustice.gov and 3 more
  424. 2022Barre Seid gave his company to a new 501(c)(4) run by Leonard Leo, a $1.6 billion political gift that avoided up to $400 million in taxpropublica.org and 2 more
  425. 2022Hawaii's "last princess" was ruled unable to manage her $215 million trust, married her partner during the court fight, and the settlement gave her wife $40 millioncivilbeat.org and 2 more
  426. 2021Melinda French Gates left the Gates Foundation with $12.5 billion from Bill Gates under their divorce agreementnbcwashington.com and 2 more
  427. 2021Tom Girardi was put under his brother's conservatorship with Alzheimer's disease, then convicted of stealing client money and sent to prison at 86Los Angeles Times and 7 more
  428. 2021Alex Murdaugh renounced his murdered wife's estate, the family estate sold for $3.9 million, and in 2026 South Carolina's top court threw out his murder convictiondigital-release.wsav.com and 3 more
  429. 2020Zappos founder Tony Hsieh died with no will, and five years later a will appeared in the mail naming a witness who may not existyahoo.com and 3 more
  430. 2020A Bangkok dealer died under US indictment for selling looted Khmer statues, and his daughter gave the 125 pieces she inherited back to Cambodiaice.gov and 4 more
  431. 2019Gugu Liberato's will left nothing to the mother of his three children, and a chef who said he was Gugu's partner of eight years sued as wellagazeta.com.br and 3 more
  432. 2017Billionaire Barry Sherman and his wife were found strangled at their pool; police first called it murder-suicide, and the case is unsolvedthestar.com and 4 more
  433. 2016Chesapeake founder Aubrey McClendon was indicted for rigging oil lease bids and died in a crash the next day, and the claims moved to his estatefortune.com and 3 more
  434. 2016A legal secretary bought the same stocks as her bosses for decades and left more than $8 million to scholarships, and her husband may not have knownCBS News and 3 more
  435. 2014L'Wren Scott left her $9 million estate to Mick Jagger and wrote that she had left out her family on purposeCBS News and 2 more
  436. 2014A Vermont gas station attendant and janitor left more than $8 million in stocks, and his stepson had no idearutlandherald.com and 2 more
  437. 2013Two brothers bought life insurance to keep their company in the family, and the Supreme Court counted the payout in the dead brother's estateSupreme Court of the United States and 2 more
  438. 2012Switzerland's oldest bank took the American clients UBS dropped, pleaded guilty in New York, and closed after 272 yearsjustice.gov and 2 more
  439. 2012Roman Blum left about $40 million and no will in 2012, a Surrogate's Court threw out a will naming a disbarred lawyer, and a Moscow man says he is the great-grandsonCBS News and 3 more
  440. 2010A polo club founder adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend after a fatal drunk-driving crash, giving her a share of his children's trustabcnews.com and 3 more
  441. 2010A secretary bought three Abbott shares for $180 in 1935, never sold them, and left $7 million to Lake Forest Collegelakeforest.edu and 3 more
  442. 2009Steve Cohen's first wife sued him 19 years after their divorce, alleging he hid $5.5 million, and an appeals court revived the caseThe Wall Street Journal and 2 more
  443. 2009Edith Windsor paid $363,053 in estate tax because the United States did not recognise her marriage to Thea Spyer, and the Supreme Court struck the law downCornell Law School, LII and 2 more
  444. 2008Formosa Plastics' founder died without a will, and his son sued to unwind $15 billion placed in Bermuda trustsInternet Archive and 3 more
  445. 2008A son used his dying mother's power of attorney to move $10 million into a partnership and a charity trust a week before she died, and the Tax Court undid itcurrentfederaltaxdevelopments.com and 2 more
  446. 2008A UBS banker told the US how the bank hid Americans' money, went to prison for 31 months, and the IRS paid him $104 millioncsmonitor.com and 2 more
  447. 2007The Gallo brothers raised their younger brother after their parents' murder-suicide, then sued him for using the family namelaw.resource.org and 2 more
  448. 2005Lilly Cassirer gave up her Pissarro to the Nazis for an exit visa in 1939, and her heirs' suit against Spain's Thyssen museum went to decision in October 2026Cornell Law School, LII and 3 more
  449. 2004The McCain brothers fought over which nephew would run their french fry empire, and one brother was removedInternet Archive and 2 more
  450. 2004Polish colonel Ryszard Kukliński passed 40,000 pages to the CIA, was sentenced to death in absentia, and lost both sons within months in 1994eng.ipn.gov.pl and 2 more
  451. 2002A 19-year-old Pritzker heir sued her father and 11 cousins for raiding her trusts, and took about $450 millionInternet Archive and 2 more
  452. 2002Twins conceived after their father's death were denied his Social Security benefits by a unanimous Supreme CourtCornell Law School, LII and 2 more
  453. 2001A doctor patented a cell line from John Moore's spleen, and California's Supreme Court ruled that Moore did not own his cellsscocal.stanford.edu and 2 more
  454. 1999U-Haul's founder lost his company to his sons, a daughter-in-law was shot dead, and a jury awarded his side $1.47 billionphoenixnewtimes.com and 2 more
  455. 1998Brunei accused the sultan's brother of taking billions as finance minister, and the Privy Council ordered him to hand over his hotelsnycourts.gov and 2 more
  456. 1998A couple put their Ponzi commissions in a Cook Islands trust that locked when they were sued, and a US judge jailed them for six monthssearch.ftc.gov and 3 more
  457. 1997CBS newsman Charles Kuralt kept a second family for 29 years, and a letter from his hospital bed gave his mistress his Montana landFindLaw Caselaw and 3 more
  458. 1996Shearn Moody Jr. was accused of making Moody Foundation grants to himself, and the IRS sought $14 millionInternet Archive and 2 more
  459. 1995An IRS auditor who said she was held back as a Jewish woman left $22 million in stock to Yeshiva University, a school she had no ties tojweekly.com and 2 more
  460. 1994A son-in-law moved 98 percent of a dying Texan's fortune into a family partnership the day after a "Fortress Plan" seminar, and the IRS taxed all of itFindLaw Caselaw and 1 more
  461. 1993A Baguio locksmith said Marcos's men seized his golden Buddha, and a Hawaii jury valued the gold he never got back at $22 billionCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 4 more
  462. 1993Audrey Walton put about $200 million of Wal-Mart stock into two trusts reported as gifts worth nothing, and the Tax Court ruled for her against the IRSirs.gov and 2 more
  463. 1991A Los Angeles man willed 15 vials of his sperm to his girlfriend before killing himself, and his children asked the court to destroy themCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 3 more
  464. 1990An Wang put his son in charge of a $3 billion company, the son was out by 1989, and Wang Laboratories went bankrupt in 1992scholar-dev.cloud.lib.vt.edu and 4 more
  465. 1990Halston sold his name with his company for $16 million and was then barred from itUPI and 2 more
  466. 1990Death duties forced an earl's family to sell Leonardo's notebook in 1980, and a widow's niece's lawsuit forced its next owner's museum to sell it againhistory.com and 2 more
  467. 1990A jeweller's daughter found ten 1933 gold double eagles in his safe-deposit box, handed them to the Mint to authenticate, and the government kept themcdn.sanity.io and 3 more
  468. 1990Navajo uranium miners died of radiation, and their widows had to prove marriages made by Navajo custom to collect $100,000Cornell Law School, LII and 4 more
  469. 1989Marcos drew a salary of 100,000 pesos a year, and the Philippine Supreme Court took $658 million of his Swiss depositsCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 5 more
  470. 1989A New York court ruled the Nyack house "haunted as a matter of law" and let the buyer walk away from $650,000blogs.loc.gov and 3 more
  471. 1988The Binghams sold the Louisville Courier-Journal after a daughter demanded her shares be bought outpulitzer.org and 2 more
  472. 1986Max Feinberg's trust treated any grandchild who married outside Judaism as dead, and the Illinois Supreme Court let it standCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 3 more
  473. 1983A 40-acre allotment had 439 owners, Congress let tiny shares pass to the tribe instead of the heirs, and the Supreme Court struck the law down twiceCornell Law School, LII and 3 more
  474. 1982Indian troops disarmed Sikkim's palace guard in 1975; the last king died in New York, his heir died on a mountain road, and a federal committee was still deciding which palace property the family ownshcs.gov.in and 3 more
  475. 1981The 16th Karmapa died in Illinois in 1981; two rival successors were enthroned, and the Black Crown he left at Rumtek has gone unused sincewww2.kenyon.edu and 3 more
  476. 1979The IRS valued Samuel Newhouse's newspaper shares at $1.32 billion and sought a $305 million fraud penalty, and the Tax Court sided with his sonscase-law.vlex.com and 2 more
  477. 1977A Beverly Hills oil widow's will told her brother-in-law to bury her in her Ferrari or lose his inheritance, and a court held her to itjalopnik.com and 2 more
  478. 1974A court had ordered Sherman Gordon to support his daughter, but Illinois gave his only asset, a $2,500 car, to his parents and siblingsCornell Law School, LII
  479. 1973An Ohio doctor's will gave his son seven years to marry a Jewish woman or lose his share to the State of Israel, and the court upheld itCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 3 more
  480. 1971RCA fought Philo Farnsworth for the television patent, lost, paid him royalties, and he died in debt while television made others richcensus.gov and 4 more
  481. 1970Two brothers spent eight years in jail for refusing to leave their grandfather's heirs' property on Silver Dollar Roadabc11.com and 3 more
  482. 1968Ezra Vincent signed a paper acknowledging his daughter, and in 1971 the Supreme Court let his brothers and sisters take his whole estateCornell Law School, LII and 3 more
  483. 1967The Lobkowicz family lost its castles to the Nazis in 1939 and the Communists in 1948, and a grandson spent 12 years recovering the Prague palacezakonyprolidi.cz and 9 more
  484. 1967Oil on an 11-year-old Creek Freedwoman's allotment brought her $300 a day, a white guardian took charge, and W. E. B. Du Bois wrote to her judge about reports she was being cheatedkgou.org and 2 more
  485. 1967Bill Koch sold his stake for $1.1 billion, sued his brothers for more, lost, and settled after 20 yearscase-law.vlex.com and 2 more
  486. 1964Philippine Executive Order No. 1 paid MacArthur $500,000 in 1942, and the payment stayed secret until 1979vtechworks.lib.vt.edu and 6 more
  487. 1964Italian fishermen netted a Greek bronze in 1964, Italy's courts acquitted the sellers, and decades later ordered it confiscated from the Gettylagen.nu and 3 more
  488. 1962Oregon claimed a dead woman's estate because her only heirs lived in East Germany, and the Supreme Court ruled in 1968 that a state cannot run its own Cold War through probateCornell Law School, LII and 3 more
  489. 1961Ranch heiress Sarita Kenedy East left her fortune to a foundation controlled by a Trappist monk, and more than 200 people claimed to be her heirsInternet Archive and 2 more
  490. 1959A Kentucky man adopted his own wife so she could inherit from his mother's trust, and the court refusedCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 1 more
  491. 1959Robert Kaufmann left his fortune to the man he lived with, and two New York juries gave it to his brothersCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 2 more
  492. 1955Einstein gave his Nobel money to his first wife and asked to be cremated in secret, and the pathologist kept his brain for decadesnationalgeographic.com and 3 more
  493. 1954Edwin Armstrong jumped from his apartment after years of suing RCA over FM radio, and his widow, once Sarnoff's secretary, won the caseslemelson.mit.edu and 3 more
  494. 1953The Rosenbergs were executed in 1953, child-care agencies petitioned for custody of their sons and the boys' trust fund, and the sons have spent 70 years on their mother's casearchives.gov and 5 more
  495. 1953The CIA gave Army scientist Frank Olson LSD without telling him, he fell from a New York hotel nine days later, and the $750,000 his family accepted later blocked their murder suitABA Journal and 2 more
  496. 1951Iraq took the property of the Jews who left in 1951, US troops found their community's books in a flooded secret-police basement in 2003, and the books have stayed in Americajns.org and 3 more
  497. 1888John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, sold it off in pieces while addicted to morphine, and died poor in 1888, leaving his widow a pauperhistorynet.com and 2 more
  498. 1898Peary brought six Inuit to New York in 1897, and the museum faked a funeral and kept Minik's father's skeleton until 1993nunatsiaq.com and 3 more
  499. 1889Father Damien was buried on Molokai where he had served leprosy patients, Belgium took the body in 1936, and Hawaii got back his right hand in 1995US National Park Service and 2 more
  500. 1862Samuel Colt left $15 million, and the "nephew" in his will was the son of his brother, who died in his cell on his execution dayAmerican Heritage and 3 more
  501. 1889Antonio Meucci could not pay $10 to renew his telephone caveat, Bell got the patent, and Meucci died before the courts ruledgovinfo.gov and 2 more
  502. 1931John Wendel kept his sisters from marrying to hold the family's Manhattan land together, and more than 2,000 people claimed the last sister's estateTime and 2 more
  503. 1905The Bishop Museum lent 83 burial objects to a Hawaiian group for one year, the group sealed them in a cave, and a federal judge jailed its leader until they came outarchive.archaeology.org and 4 more
  504. 1944Charles Bedaux hosted the Windsor wedding at Candé, died in FBI custody awaiting treason charges, and his widow gave the château to Francedomainecande.fr and 2 more
  505. 1926Charles Vance Millar left his estate to the Toronto mother with the most babies in 10 years, and 4 mothers with 9 children each split itWikisource (primary text) and 5 more
  506. 1946The Nazis forced Max Warburg to give up M.M. Warburg & Co in 1938; his son Eric needed until 1970 to restore the family nameInternet Archive and 6 more
  507. 1782Kalaniʻōpuʻu left Hawaiʻi Island to his son and the war god to his nephew Kamehameha, and the chiefs who got no land started the war that made Kamehameha kingInternet Archive and 2 more
  508. 1873Johns Hopkins left $7 million in railroad stock to found a hospital, the stock stopped paying, and records found in 2020 showed he had owned slavesSmithsonian Magazine and 2 more
  509. 1908Cyrus Teed's followers watched his body waiting for him to rise, until the county health officer ordered him buried; a hurricane later took the tombwrldrels.org and 2 more
  510. 1939The Wittgenstein siblings gave the Reichsbank their Swiss-held fortune in 1939 for "half-Jewish" status, and Vienna paid Paul's heirs €7,400 in 2008entschaedigungsfonds.org and 3 more
  511. 1948The Smithsonian got the Wright Flyer for $1 on a contract that returns it to the Wright heirs if the museum says anyone flew firstUS National Park Service and 4 more
  512. 1948Cecil Harris lay pinned under his tractor for 10 hours and scratched his will into the fendernews.usask.ca and 2 more
  513. 1945The Hershey school trust voted to sell Hershey Foods to Wrigley for $12.5 billion in 2002, and a Pennsylvania court stopped itInternet Archive and 3 more
  514. 1945Hungary's crown guard handed the Holy Crown to the US Army in 1945, it sat in Fort Knox for 33 years, and Carter gave it to a communist governmenthistory.state.gov and 3 more
  515. 1943Oscar Hartzell sold shares in a $22 billion Sir Francis Drake estate that did not exist, and about 70,000 Midwesterners paidCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 4 more
  516. 1941Fritz Grünbaum died at Dachau owning about 70 Schieles; his heirs won them back in New York, then one heir sued Christie's over the restpaw.princeton.edu and 2 more
  517. 1939Switzerland made bank secrecy a crime in 1934, and the night guard who took bank files from a UBS shredder in 1997 had to seek asylum in the United Statesdaily.jstor.org and 3 more
  518. 1938Comstock heir Clarence Mackay cut his daughter out of his will for marrying Irving Berlin, and after her baby died he took her backnnbw.com and 2 more
  519. 1934A woman married "the world's richest Indian", the Interior Secretary gave away $1.1 million of his oil money, and the courts took it backCornell Law School, LII and 2 more
  520. 1932A recluse died in a New York hotel with a fortune in cash, 1,103 people claimed it, and the 10 real heirs had never met herSmithsonian Magazine and 2 more
  521. 1930A Philadelphia widow left $17 million and no will, and 26,000 people claimed to be her heirsCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 2 more
  522. 1930Henrietta Garrett died in 1930 with $17 million and no will; more than 25,000 people claimed to be her kin, ten went to jail, and three cousins she never met inheritedlegalgenealogist.com and 2 more
  523. 1926A Merck grandson handed the family's American shares to the US government in 1917, and the two Merck companies have fought over the name ever sinceThe National Archives, Find Case Law and 4 more
  524. 1921Oil made each Osage headright worth a fortune, at least 24 Osage were killed in the early 1920s, and Congress stopped non-Osage from inheriting headrights in 1925osagenation-nsn.gov and 2 more
  525. 1921Pink Chaffin said his dead father led him to a second will hidden in Genesis 27, and a North Carolina court admitted it in 1925mentalfloss.com and 2 more
  526. 1921Police raided Dan Cranmer's 1921 potlatch, and the masks surrendered to keep people out of prison went to museums, a collector and an official's own collectionumista.ca and 2 more
  527. 1917Queen Liliʻuokalani sued the United States for Hawaii's crown lands and lostWikipedia (English) and 2 more
  528. 1917The Bolsheviks sold the tsars' Fabergé eggs abroad, and one sold in New York in 1964 as a gold watch turned up with a man who had bought it for scrapvam.ac.uk and 3 more
  529. 1916Ishi asked to be cremated by Yahi custom, and the university sent his brain to the Smithsonian, which returned it 84 years laterhearstmuseum.berkeley.edu and 2 more
  530. 1915Talaat asked the US ambassador for the list of Armenians insured by American companies, and 89 years later New York Life paid $20 million to their heirsProject Gutenberg and 3 more
  531. 1914Senator Bacon left Macon a park for white people only; when the courts opened it to all, it went back to his heirs and became a strip mallCornell Law School, LII and 2 more
  532. 1911Nine Americans won $41.3 million from China on 1911 imperial railway bonds, and the judgment was set aside after Beijing protestedcase-law.vlex.com and 3 more
  533. 1909Geronimo's descendants sued Skull and Bones in 2009 for the skull a member's 1918 letter says was taken from his grave, and a federal judge dismissed the casehistorynewsnetwork.org and 5 more
  534. 1905The celibate Harmony Society dwindled to eight members, the US Supreme Court refused the heirs a share in 1902, and the last trustees split the fortune with PennsylvaniaCornell Law School, LII and 2 more
  535. 1890William Waldorf Astor built a hotel beside his aunt's house over who was "Mrs. Astor", and her son built a taller one on hersmentalfloss.com and 3 more
  536. 1850Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson's daughter was ruled illegitimate, and a Kentucky court gave his estate to his brothersLibrary of Congress and 4 more
  537. 1860Charles Goodyear patented vulcanized rubber, spent the profits in court, and died $200,000 in debt on the way to his dying daughterlemelson.mit.edu and 2 more
  538. 1880Gold was found on John Sutter's land in 1848, his son built Sacramento on it against his wishes, and he died in a Washington hotel waiting for Congress to pay himWikisource (primary text) and 2 more
  539. 1874Two Hawaiian kings died without naming heirs, the 1874 election ended in a riot that killed a legislator, and King Lunalilo left his lands to a home for poor Hawaiiansblog.bishopmuseum.org and 3 more
  540. 1891Jacob Waltz died in 1891 and his carer sold maps to his supposed gold mine; searchers have died looking for it sinceazstateparks.com and 2 more
  541. 1884The last Kamehameha princess left her lands to a school, and a judge removed its trustees for self-dealing 115 years laterarchives.starbulletin.com and 3 more
  542. 1701Captain Kidd buried treasure on Gardiners Island to bargain for a pardon, and the governor who had backed his voyage dug it upEncyclopaedia Britannica and 2 more
  543. 1899Horace Tabor left his wife for Baby Doe, lost his silver fortune in 1893, and Baby Doe was found frozen at his last mineWikipedia (English) and 2 more
  544. 1897George Pullman's will cut his twin sons to $3,000 a year for lacking "a sense of responsibility," and his family buried him under steel rails and concretearchive.archaeology.org and 3 more
  545. 1692Salem pressed Giles Corey to death under stones for refusing a jury trial, and his land went to his sons-in-law under a will he had already signedsalem.lib.virginia.edu and 3 more
  546. 1865Hetty Robinson produced a will page giving her all of her aunt's $2 million, and a Harvard mathematician testified the signature was tracedCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 3 more
  547. 1851Audubon's widow sold the Birds of America copper plates in 1870 and buyers melted most of them for scrapyalealumnimagazine.com and 3 more
  548. 1839Stephen Van Rensselaer III's will ordered $400,000 in back rents collected, and his tenants answered with the Anti-Rent WarAmerican Heritage and 4 more
  549. 1831Stephen Girard left $7.5 million for "poor white male orphans", and courts fought over the word "white" until 1968Cornell Law School, LII and 3 more
  550. 1880Edwin Drake drilled the first US oil well in 1859, lost his savings by 1866, and lived on a Pennsylvania state pensionnpgallery.nps.gov and 2 more
  551. 1860Napoleon annulled his brother's Baltimore marriage, and Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte's son lost his claim to the Bonaparte inheritance in a Paris courth-france.net and 2 more
  552. 1870Joseph Davis sold his plantations to the man he had enslaved, and his brother Jefferson Davis sued the family for Brierfield and wonmshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov and 3 more
  553. 1622Mel Fisher lost his son and daughter-in-law hunting the Atocha, found its main treasure ten years to the day later, and beat Florida in the Supreme CourtCornell Law School, LII and 3 more
  554. 1876Thieves stole A. T. Stewart's body from his New York vault, and his widow paid $20,000 for a satchel of bonescambridge.org and 2 more
  555. 1862Uriah Levy willed Monticello to the United States, the Confederacy auctioned it, and New York's highest court voided the giftCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 7 more
  556. 1781Virginia confiscated Lord Fairfax's Northern Neck, and his heir's land claim reached the Supreme Court twiceCornell Law School, LII and 5 more
  557. 1737The last Medici left the Florentine Diamond to Tuscany, the Habsburgs took it to Vienna, and it surfaced in a Quebec bank vault in 2025theglobeandmail.com and 4 more
  558. 1801A sea captain's son willed his Manhattan farm to retired sailors, a Loyalist's son sued as heir to the Supreme Court, and the ground rents housed 1,000 sailorsCornell Law School, LII and 3 more
  559. 1874James Addison Reavis forged a Spanish barony covering 12 million acres of Arizona, presented a ranch girl as its heiress, and went to prisonarizonahighways.com and 2 more
  560. 1894California's last Mexican governor signed what he said was a mortgage, the courts called it a sale, and he lost his last ranch at 90homesteadmuseum.blog and 2 more
  561. 1894Senator James Fair locked his fortune in a trust, a school principal produced a pencil will and a marriage contract, and his children turned on hercslfdn.org and 2 more
  562. 1892A widow left her inherited fortune to a Lincoln charity home; her family said a planchette and her dead husband's spirit guided her, and Nebraska upheld the will in 1895Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 2 more
  563. 1885A Georgia planter left his estate to his daughter by an enslaved girl, and his white relatives lost their challenge in 1887Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 3 more
  564. 1885Grant lost his savings in the Grant & Ward fraud and wrote memoirs that paid his widow about $450,000US National Park Service and 5 more
  565. 1884A 1997 essay called "Broken Trust" led a Hawaii court to remove the Bishop Estate trustees, who were paid up to $900,000 a yeararchives.starbulletin.com and 2 more
  566. 1882A 16-year-old poisoned his grandfather to stop him changing his will, and New York's highest court took the farm from him in 1889Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 2 more
  567. 1873The Army hanged Captain Jack, shipped his head to Washington in a barrel marked "specimens of natural history," and exiled his people to Oklahomaou.edu and 3 more
  568. 1868William Morton patented ether anaesthesia, never collected a royalty, and died in debt while his rivals died by suicide and in an asylumcollection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk and 2 more
  569. 1868Eilley Bowers took mining claims for unpaid board, became one of the first Comstock millionaires, and lost her mansion at auctionlasvegasnvmuseum.org and 2 more
  570. 1857The Lee family lost Arlington over a $92.07 tax, the Army buried soldiers on it, and the Supreme Court awarded $150,000Cornell Law School, LII and 5 more
  571. 1857Insurers paid for the SS Central America's gold in 1857 and claimed it again when it was found in 1988; the finder spent ten years jailed over 500 missing coinslaw.resource.org and 2 more
  572. 1850John McDonogh left two cities a fortune for free schools, his heirs said Louisiana law voided the gift, and New Orleans pulled down his statue in 2020law.resource.org and 2 more
  573. 1842Mexico seized the Jesuit mission fund for California in 1842, and the claim ran 125 years through the first case at The Haguehistory.state.gov and 3 more
  574. 1842Families who had inherited unpaid Mississippi bonds for 90 years gave them to the Prince of Monaco to sue, and the Supreme Court said a foreign state cannotCornell Law School, LII and 2 more
  575. 1838The Maryland Jesuits sold 272 people for $115,000 in 1838 to pay Georgetown's debts, and in 2021 the order pledged $100 million to their descendantsslaveryarchive.georgetown.edu and 2 more
  576. 1832Heirs of a Mexican land grant raided the Tierra Amarilla courthouse in 1967 to arrest the district attorneyDeseret News and 3 more
  577. 1830Hawaiʻi's young king inherited the chiefs' sandalwood debt, and the governor who sailed to cut more sandalwood never came backmanoa.hawaii.edu and 3 more
  578. 1826Masons took William Morgan from a New York jail in 1826 to stop his exposé, and a stranger's body was buried in his namehistory.nycourts.gov and 3 more
  579. 1820Settlers seized Demasduit to recover stolen property and killed her husband; their remains sat in Edinburgh until 2020Dictionary of Canadian Biography and 2 more
  580. 1813Myra Clark Gaines sued for 51 years over her father's lost will and the New Orleans land sold from his estate, and her heirs collected after she diedhnoc.org and 3 more
  581. 1800When the last Jesuit in Canada died in 1800 the Crown took the order's estates, and 88 years later the Pope divided the compensationDictionary of Canadian Biography and 2 more
  582. 1902In Brewster's Millions, a man must spend a $1 million inheritance in a year with nothing to show for it in order to inherit $7 millionProject Gutenberg and 2 more
  583. 1799Washington's will freed 123 people, his heir sold 54 more, and the family sold Mount Vernon for $200,000founders.archives.gov and 3 more
  584. 1779Hawaiʻi's ruling chief put his feather cloak on Captain Cook in 1779, and it took 237 years and a New Zealand museum to bring it homeSmithsonian Magazine and 2 more
  585. 1738Descendants of a 1640s settler sued Trinity Church for downtown Manhattan, and courts ruled the church's 230 years of possession beat their claimCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 3 more
  586. 1676Plymouth put Metacom's head on a pole for about 20 years and sold his wife and nine-year-old son into slaveryapps.lib.umich.edu and 3 more
  587. 1635Champlain named the Virgin Mary as his heir in 1635; his cousin sued in Paris and the will was annulled in 1639Dictionary of Canadian Biography and 4 more
  588. 1617Pocahontas's son inherited Virginia land, and Virginia's 1924 race law made an exception that kept families claiming descent from her legally whiteUS National Park Service and 3 more
  589. 1542De Soto's body was sunk in the Mississippi, and his widow governed Cuba and fought his business partner over the estate until 1546 to 1550revistascientificas.us.es and 3 more
  590. 1229Monks scraped Archimedes off the page in 1229, a Paris family kept the book in a damp cellar, and a judge let them sell it hours before a church's claim could stop itarchive.archaeology.org and 4 more
  591. 2021In HBO's Succession, the children's veto over the family company sat in their parents' divorce deal, and their father and mother renegotiated it awaynyunews.com and 3 more
  592. 800Pueblo Bonito's richest crypt held one maternal line for 330 years, and scientists sequenced it without asking the Pueblo tribespar.nsf.gov and 2 more
  593. 10700 BCEConstruction workers found the Clovis child on the Anzick family ranch in 1968, the family's geneticist sequenced him, and six tribes reburied him in 2014pure.psu.edu and 2 more
  594. 1050At Cahokia a man and woman were buried on 10,000 shell beads, and the same mound held 53 young women who had been stranglednews.illinois.edu and 1 more
  595. 1428A Highland family kept St Fillan's crozier for 500 years, took it to Canada, and sold it back to Scotland for $500journals.socantscot.org and 3 more
  596. 1250Six men leased Spiro's burial mound for $300 from the guardian of the heirs, tunnelled in, sold the grave goods worldwide, and tried to blow up the restokhistory.org and 2 more
  597. 1142The Haudenosaunee Great Law vests the chiefs' titles in the women of each family, who can take back the antlersInternet Archive and 2 more
  598. 1261 BCEMes sued to recover land granted to his ancestor Neshi under Ahmose I, after a court ruled against his mother on a false registerInternet Archive and 1 more
  599. 1291 BCEA mummy sold in Luxor around 1860 spent over a century in a Niagara Falls curiosity museum before it was identified as Ramesses I and sent homearchive.archaeology.org and 4 more
  600. 7000 BCEScientists and five tribes fought for 20 years over a skeleton about 9,000 years old, a court gave it to the scientists, and Congress gave it to the tribeslaw.resource.org and 2 more
  601. 8600 BCENevada held Spirit Cave Man for decades against his tribe, a judge called it arbitrary, and the tribe agreed to DNA to prove he was theirsscientificamerican.com and 2 more
  602. 1822An 1885 pamphlet says a buried treasure in Virginia belongs to 30 men and their heirs, named in a cipher nobody has solveddocuments.theblackvault.com and 2 more
  603. 1500Hawaiian tradition says Līloa left the kingdom to his son Hākau and the gods to his low-born son ʻUmi, and ʻUmi killed Hākau and took the islandInternet Archive and 2 more
  604. 2180 BCEHerodotus says Queen Nitocris drowned the men who killed her brother the king at a banquet, and a modern scholar argues she never existedProject Gutenberg and 2 more
  605. 1011The saga says Freydís Eiríksdóttir had her partners killed in Vinland, axed their five women herself and sailed home in their larger shipcanadianmysteries.ca and 2 more