After a six-month coma, the life of Bobbi Kristina Brown, Whitney Houston's daughter, has tragically ended. Just how tragic her short life really was may not be known for some time. But the details that have recently emerged are nothing short of heart-wrenching, if the allegations of a lawsuit recently filed on behalf of Bobbi Kristina prove to be true.
According to that lawsuit, the multi-million dollar trust fund created through Whitney Houston's will was at the heart of this tragedy.
It was on January 31, 2015 that Bobbi Kristina was found unresponsive, unconscious, and face down in a bath tub. That was nearly three years from the day her mother famously drowned, also in a bathtub. Bobbi Kristina was placed into a medically-induced coma and reportedly suffered severe brain damage. While various relatives made contradictory public statements over her condition, they cooperated enough to permit her father, Bobby Brown, and her aunt, Pat Houston, to serve together as Bobbi Kristina's co-guardians, managing her medical care and decisions.
Instead of a relative, the court in charge of Bobbi Kristina's case appointed an attorney from Atlanta, Bedelia Hargrove, to serve as her conservator. As conservator, Hargrove was able to to manage Bobbi Kristina's finances and make financial-related decisions for her. In late June -- just weeks after being appointed in that role -- Hargrove started a new lawsuit on behalf of Bobbi Kristina, against Nick Gordon.
The lawsuit accused Gordon of assault and battery, fraud, stalking, and more -- claiming that Nick Gordon was motivated by the millions of dollars held in trust for Bobbi Kristina through Whitney Houston's will. Specifically, Hargrove alleged that Gordon perpetrated a "scheme to benefit from her wealth" including "routinely transferring a large portion of Brown's funds" into his own bank account, without her permission. Gordon questioned Bobbi Kristina's ability to access the trust money, and also threatened and stalked one of the trustees leading to a restraining order, the lawsuit states. He even allegedly took $11,000 out of her account while she was in a coma.
The worst of the allegations involve claims that Gordon engaged in domestic violence against Bobbi Kristina, including the injuries that ultimately led to her death. Hargrove's lawsuit included claims that Gordon was guilty of assault, battery, conversion and more -- and that he should be liable for more than ten million dollars.
Now that Bobbi Kristina has died, on July 26, 2015, multiple media sources are reporting that Gordon is being investigated for the murder of Bobbi Kristina, with criminal charges expected to be filed. Nick Gordon denies the allegations and reportedly is heartbroken over Bobbi Kristina's death. He points to drug and alcohol use as the cause of the tragedy, not violence.
As to where the money goes, the terms of Whitney Houston's will state that any money left from Whitney Houston's estate will pass onto her two brothers and her mother. Bobby Brown was also named under the will, but his share was automatically revoked when he and Houston became divorced.
Media outlets regularly report that Whitney Houston's estate had a value of $20 million. When Houston initially died with more debt than assets, the increase in sales from Houston's songs and performances brought in the estimated $20 million sum, on top of paying the debts. While the accuracy of these figures cannot be confirmed, obviously there was a lot of money at stake in Whitney Houston's estate. And Bobbi Kristina was the sole beneficiary.
Ten percent of the estate money passed to Bobbi Kristina when she turned 21, with another sum in the neighborhood of three million scheduled for her 25th birthday. In additional, the trust established by Houston's will also specified that the rest of the money could be used for anything else the trustees felt were advisable for Bobbi Kristina, including medical care, acquiring a home, starting a new business, becoming engaged, or marrying.
Given the great expense of keeping Bobbi Kristina on life support for the last six months, and depending on how much was covered by health insurance, much of the remaining millions may have already been spent. How much is left is anyone's guess at this point.
Before this tragedy happened, there were millions available for Bobbi Kristina's needs. Initially, the named trustees -- her aunt and grandmother -- feared that Bobbi Kristina could not handle so much money at such a young age. They filed a court proceeding asking to rewrite the will based on what they felt were Whitney Houston's true intentions -- that the money be safeguarded for Bobbi Kristina until she was older. In the filing, the trustees expressed their concerns that Bobbi Kristina's well-being may be jeopardized if she was allowed to have so much money starting at the young age of 21.
While that court filing certainly seems to have been justified in hindsight, it did not work. Shortly after filing it, the trustees withdrew it. Probate courts are required to follow the terms of the actual will or trust documents, not what the person who died might have otherwise intended. So justified or not, the trustees were not able to delay distributing the money to Bobbi Kristina even though they clearly had concerns.
Would this tragedy have been adverted if Bobbi Kristina's distributions were delayed until she was older? While that's a good question, the reality is it would be very hard if not impossible to compose a trust that could completely protect someone from the type of behaviors alleged in the Hargrove lawsuit against Nick Gordon. For instance, Gordon allegedly stalked one of the trustees, leading to a restraining order against him. And even if the distribution provisions were delayed until Bobbi Kristina were older, the will language still allowed for the trustees to give her money when she needed it. The outcome may very well have been the same regardless of the timing of the mandatory distributions.
But one thing is clear -- inheriting trust money at a young age can have serious negative consequences. Whitney Houston's will was done in 1993, specifying how a trust would be created after she died for any children she may have. Houston never updated the will after that and she did not create a living trust document that could have better addressed these concerns.
This is not to cast blame on Whitney Houston's will for Bobbi Kristina's death. Again, if Nick Gordon really is guilty of assault and battery that resulted in her death, as the Hargrove lawsuit alleges, that could have happened no matter what estate planning Whitney Houston had done. But clearly, Gordon was motivated by money -- according to the allegations -- and Houston's should have and could have better protected that money with improved estate planning documents.
Hopefully others can use this tragedy to remind themselves of the importance of creating and updating proper estate planning documents that help beneficiaries, instead of passing along substantial sums of money in a way that could lead to more harm than good. This lesson is important not only for those who have millions or more. Even $50,000 in the hands of a 21-year old can be problematic.
Good estate planning helps beneficiaries receive money in a manner -- and when -- it can do the most good. The tragedy of Bobbi Kristina Brown was made all the more tragic because it appears that Whitney Houston's poor estate planning played such a critical role.
