Another Celebrity Estate Planning Lesson

Frank Zappa passed away some years ago and left his musical legacy in a trust with his wife in charge. His wife had the right to change the terms of the trust. It turns out she did change the trust to favor the couple’s two younger children at the expense of the older children. Apparently she didn’t fully explain the changes or the reasons for them before she passed away. The result is the predictable splitting of the family and the potential for lawsuits. You can read about it here.

Ahmet says that he didn’t really see Gail clearly until the end of her life. “I really cherish the last year that I spent with her because I heard so many stories,” he says. “She was so much more open to talking about things and her experiences. She cared most about keeping the family together. She would literally do anything to have us all under the same roof.”

That the opposite has happened is hard for Moon to take. She says that when Gail passed away, Moon figured that the kids would commiserate and then move on as a unit. “I thought we would all breathe a sigh of relief and, like refugees that made it across the border, put the whole thing behind us. Hug — the four of us — and say, ‘We made it, guys.’ That is not what happened. And it’s heartbreaking.”