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Case file s448 · Literature and art · 2012
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2012
Thomas Kinkade: ThomasKinkade
Thomas Kinkade. US Department of Defense. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
6 April 2012
Place
Monte Sereno, California · United States
Field
painter ("Painter of Light") · Visual art and architecture on the timeline
Legal tradition
California probate law · Common law
Historical event
Mass-market art licensing of the 1990s and 2000s
Religion
Thomas Kinkade: Other Christian (recorded as American Christians on Wikipedia)
Literature and artNew wives, nurses and girlfriendsNowNorth AmericaUnited States

Thomas Kinkade's girlfriend produced handwritten notes leaving her his mansion and $10 million, and his estranged wife said he was drunk when he wrote them

Kinkade sold his paintings as prints, licensed products and gallery franchises†. He was separated from his wife, Nanette, and living with his girlfriend, Amy Pinto-Walsh, when he died at 54†. Pinto-Walsh produced two handwritten notes, dated 18 November 2011 and 11 December 2011, written in barely legible print. One read: "I, Thomas Kinkade, being of sound mind and body do hereby bequeath to Amy Pinto Walsh $10,000,000 in cash." The notes also left her the Monte Sereno mansion and money for a museum. Nanette's lawyers argued the notes were invalid because Kinkade was intoxicated and not of sound mind, and filed his original will and three codicils. Reports valued the estate at about $66 million. Nanette's side sought private arbitration. In July 2012 a judge ruled the case would stay public in probate court. In December 2012 lawyers for both women announced a confidential settlement. Pinto-Walsh agreed to leave the house and to stay silent. The terms, and who received the warehouse of paintings, were not disclosed.

What the law took from it

A handwritten note can be a valid will in California, so a formal plan has to be kept current or a note can override it.

Sources
  1. CBS NewsPress
  2. heraldnet.comPress
  3. ABA JournalPress
  4. m.washingtontimes.comPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Thomas Kinkade's girlfriend produced handwritten notes leaving her his mansion and $10 million, and his estranged wife said he was drunk when he wrote them,” story s448, https://www.celebrity.estate/thomas-kinkade-2012, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Literature and artNew wives, nurses and girlfriendsNowNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States