 
Whitney Houston Will and TrustWhitney Houston (August 9, 1963 - February 11, 2012)For more information about Whitney Houston, please see the biography in Wikipedia.LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT of Whitney Houston
Lawsuits for the Estate of Whitney Houston?Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 - February 11, 2012) was an American recording artist, actress, producer, and model. Whitney Houston's management had barely squelched rumors that the 48-year-old diva and recovering cocaine addict had run out of cash before they had to confirm reports that she was dead.In 2001, she had just signed the biggest record deal in history. Although $100 million was earned in guaranteed royalties, her drug use was getting harder to hide. Whitney's incoming wealth and rising litigation and mortality risks should have inspired her to create w proper will and private asset protection trusts. Unfortunately, her career and personal life started to unravel, and a complicated decade of troubles ensued. When she signed that $100 million contract, she was already carrying her long-time husband, Bobby Brown, and a young daughter. 
Her father, who had managed her career up to that point, was slowly dying of heart disease and seems to have been
perpetually hurting for cash.
In 2002, Whitney's father sued her for $100 million, claiming he was owed that much for helping her beat marijuana possession charges and negotiate her big record deal. That suit continued after his death before being dismissed in 2004, robbing Houston's lawyers of vital time to move that money into an private asset protection trust. As long as the lawsuit was pending, any normal judge would have considered asset protection a blatant attempt to defraud an existing creditor. Two years of calm followed, but Houston spent some time in rehab, so any claims she was in "sound mind and body" to sign any estate documents would be suspect and could be challenged. Her divorce from Bobby Brown dragged on through most of 2007, but her prenuptial agreement cut Bobby Brown out of her money and any legitimate claim to spousal support. Since Bobby has no claim on her money, and her daughter Bobbi Christina is legally an adult, and out of the hospital herself, he can't get custody and the money that goes with that. Her father, John Houston, appears to have died without clearly stating whether the life insurance money was meant to go to Whitney, who loaned him the money for the house in the first place (or to pay off his debt to his daughter). He left behind letters talking about how Whitney made an oral agreement to apply the $1 million toward the loan, but her lawyers successfully noted that nothing like that was spelled out in his actual will. Eight years after John Houston died, the case finally settled in Whitney's favor. 
Had the lawyers set up a trust to accept the life insurance proceeds and use them to pay off the loan, his wishes would have been clear and none of the ensuing legal in-fighting would have been necessary. As the judge noted, it's impossible to legally determine what the deceased would have wanted, beyond what's spelled out in the documents.
Whitney Houston was in the midst of a comeback (complete with a new album and an appropriately contrite appearance on Oprah) and she was discarding her old life including some real estate. Houston had listed her home in Mendham Township, New Jersey. The five-bedroom contemporary home sits on a five acre lot with a pool, pool house and tennis court. The Realtors say that Houston bought the home in 1987 and it appears "old" style with a circular theme that includes a domed sky light, semicircular walls of windows and a curved wall of art glass. It is listed at $2.5 million but shows an assessed value of $5,640,700. Whitney Houston's sudden death at the age of 48 was both shocking and tragic. No one can deny that during her prime Whitney Houston was one of the most incredible and gifted musicians the world has ever known. It was sad watching her life take some dark turns recently but I think everyone held out hope that she would eventually make a glorious come back. In the coming weeks, many people will be comparing Whitney's life and death to that of fellow pop star Michael Jackson. They had amazing careers, challenges with drugs and they both will continue to live on posthumously earning massive fortunes in death. One major difference between Whitney and Michael Jackson's estates is that Whitney did not write or own the masters of any of her most popular songs. "How Will I Know", "Saving All My Love", "I Will Always Love You", were all written and produced by other musicians and composers. Country star Dolly Parton wrote and owns the masters to "I Will Always Love You". Interestingly, the song was not commercially successful for Dolly until the movie The Bodyguard was released. Kevin Costner handpicked the song to be the title track to the blockbuster movie and Parton would eventually earn over $10 million from that success. 
It's reasonable to estimate that Whitney Houston's estate will earn $50 - $100 million in the next twelve months off album sales, DVDs, merchandise and other licensing deals. She will likely double her current net worth of $80 million. Since she was divorced from singer Bobby Brown at the time of her death, all of this money will go to Whitney's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown.
Shortly before her death, Houston completed the filming of Sparkle, produced by Sony (SNE) division, TriStar Pictures. In the film, Houston plays Emma, the mother of American Idol's Jordin Sparks. Sony also owned Arista Records that signed Whitney Houston. But after Sony acquired the label, it merged Arista into its RCA Division and quietly shut it down in October 2011. She recently claimed victory in the Federal Court of Appeals against the woman who married her father. That stepmother, Barbara Houston, had sued Whitney back in 2008. When Whitney's father, John, died in 2003, Whitney was received $1 million as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy. Barbara felt that money was really meant to benefit her. Whitney had lent her father a great deal of money, some of it to buy a house that John lived in with Barbara. When John Houston died, Barbara inherited the house. Because of that particular loan, Whitney owned the mortgage on the house. Barbara claimed the life insurance money was meant to repay Whitney for that mortgage. When Whitney refused to credit the life insurance money against the mortgage, Barbara sued. Whitney counter-sued, pointing out in a public court record that Barbara met her father while she was a "custodial care service worker" (a "maid"), cleaning his house. Barbara was 40 years younger than Whitney's dad and starting dating him when he was still married to Whitney's mother. Whitney also brought up the fact that John and Barbara were married right after he divorced Whitney's mother. Barbara and her lawyers brought up several letters, written by various accountants. They argued to the judge that these writings suggested the insurance policy really was meant to repay the mortgage. The problem was that there never was a written agreement between John and Whitney Houston documenting this, and everyone from Whitney's camp denied they had an agreement. Instead, Whitney pointed out that she lent her father lots of money, and this insurance policy was meant to repay other loans, not the mortgage money. The judge agreed with Whitney and Whitney can proceed to foreclose on the house. 
It's common that someone dies with a new and younger spouse and adult children from a prior relationship. In these families, the proper legal planning is more important than ever. Clearly, John Houston intended the life insurance money to repay Whitney for money she lent him. But what money? No one knows for certain although it's interesting that one of Whitney's accountants actually credited the life insurance money against the mortgage after John died, before later reversing the credit. Other writings supported Barbara's claim that this was what John intended all along, but none were signed by John or Whitney.
The best way for most people to prevent confusion and family fights when a relative dies is to take action and spend the time and money to do proper estate planning, including a will and trust that clearly and completely document the person's wishes. Without proper estate planning making the intentions clear, court fights in second-marriage families are to be expected. Whitney Houston's Will is ValidNow, Whitney Houston's will has been validated by a judge, and her daughter Bobbi Kristina stands to inherit her fortune.Bobbi Kristina is Whitney's sole beneficiary in the will. The will was amended in 2000 and provides that if Bobbi Kristina (now 19 years old) dies before probate is completed, ex-hubby Bobby Brown and various relatives will divide all of her assets upon their agreement on a division, with the exception that all of Whitney's jewelry would go to her mom Cissy. In addition to Brown, Whitney named her mom Cissy, her dad John and her brothers Michael and Gary as beneficiaries. If Bobbi Kristina is deceased (and if Bobby and the others couldn't reach an agreement on who gets what), the will says all of Whitney's assets are to be sold and they would just divide the cash. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all time.[1] Her awards include two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards in her lifetime. Houston was also one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide.[2][3] Inspired by prominent soul singers in her family, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, and her godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing with her New Jersey church's junior gospel choir at age 11.[4] After she began performing alongside her mother in night clubs in the New York City area, she was discovered by Arista Records label head Clive Davis. Houston released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits ("Saving All My Love for You", "How Will I Know", "Greatest Love of All", "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"). She is the second artist behind Elton John and the only female artist to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly "Top Pop Album") on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houston's 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the best-selling debut album by a female act at the time of its release. The album was named Rolling Stone's best album of 1986, and was ranked at number 254 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[5] Her second studio album Whitney (1987) became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.[5] Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know",[6] influenced several African-American female artists to follow in her footsteps.[7][8] Most news reported that she fell asleep in the bathtub and drowned after mixing prescription painkillers with alcohol. Now, it's the estate and disposition of Houston's remaining wealth that is under public scrutiny. Floral Design at Avas Flowers Whitney Houston Funeral Flowers 
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