Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love’s daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, turned 18 last week. For most 18 year olds, that means that you can vote and for some it means that you can drink legally. As an estate planning attorney, it has a different relevance.

The girl who was born at Cedar’s Sinai Medical Center on August 18, 1992 was not yet 20 months old when Mr. Cobain committed suicide on April 8, 1994. As an eighteen year old, absent a will or trust to the contrary, she is deemed by the law an adult and old enough to control her inheritance. In 2006, Forbes magazine indicated that Mr. Cobain’s estate earned $55 million – number one for that years amongst dead celebrities.

In articles I have read, there has been mention of a trust that was created on Frances Bean’s behalf in 1997. However, the specifics of the trust are not discussed. Normally, it would be difficult to accomplish the creating of a trust on her behalf that last’s past her 18th birthday out of proceeds from an estate that were not provided for in a will or trust.

In any event there are two takeaways from this blog post: 1. Ms. Cobain has more money than virtually any other 18 year old; and 2. it is essential to plan for your children so that they are not in a position of having control over their inheritance when they do not have the life experience to make the correct decisions and may end up investing with the wrong people.

Ms. Cobain will be fine. What about the child inheriting $500,000 at age 18 and receiving nothing more? Plan with an estate planning lawyer. Think things through!

The interesting thing about probate litigation is that often a lot of the family dirty laundry comes out for the world to see. This can certainly be seen in the estate of Melvin Simon.

For estate planning attorneys this is a great teaching tool. As lawyers, we frequently counsel our clients on the benefit of preparing their estate plan as soon as possible in an effort to minimize the risk that there will be probate litigation. Steps can be taken to minimize the risk of litigation.

Currently, the estate of Melvin Simon is being fought over by his widow and his children from his first marriage. His widow has admitted in deposition that she referred to her stepson David as a terrorist and to her stepdaughter Deborah as “Debbie bin Laden.” Moreover, she said that her brother-in-law “speaks from both sides of his mouth depending on the day.”

Melvin Simon was the namesake with his brother Herb of Simon Property Group, our nation’s largest mall developer. He was also the owner of an NBA team and a producer of some very successful movies.

Control of that company is somewhat at issue as his widow has attempted to sell about a third of his holdings. If she does sell, it would be a major dilution of the family stock.

It appears to me, that Mr. Simon might not have done all he could do years ago to make sure that his estate was ultimately handled in a way that made all parts of his family happy. Making changes at the end in a blended family situation often leads to probate litigation upon death.