Ricky 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 son

Rick Nelson and his fiancée Helen Blair died when his DC-3 caught fire and crashed in Texas. He was 45. His divorce from Kristin Harmon Nelson had ended in 1982 after a five-year fight over property and custody, with $4,000 a month in child support. In 1981 Georgeann Crewe filed a paternity suit; a 1985 blood test showed Nelson was the father of her son Eric, born 14 February 1981^†. After the crash, Kristin threatened to sue the Nelson family over his life insurance and asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to give her control of the estate from its administrator, his brother David Nelson. The judge refused^†. Crewe and her son pursued the estate for years without success^†. In 1987 Kristin's brother, actor Mark Harmon, and his wife Pam Dawber took temporary custody of her son Sam, 12, arguing her prescription drug addiction made her unfit. Her lawyer threatened to call Robin Williams to testify about Dawber; Dawber denied drug use. In August 1987 Harmon dropped the bid and Kristin regained custody. The estate's debts were reportedly taken on by the twins Gunnar and Matthew^†. In October 2011 the heirs' company sued Capitol Records in Los Angeles Superior Court for unpaid royalties, including digital downloads. The case settled and was dismissed in April 2014. In 2026 the Rick Nelson Company holds the rights.