Who Will Inherit Whitney Houston’s Estate?

Bobbi Kristina Brown is the only heir to the estate of her mother, renowned singer and actress Whitney Houston, but since being placed in a medically induced coma questions have arisen about who is next in line to inherit her fortune. Whitney Houston’s estate was estimated to be around $20 million at the time of her death three years ago. Bobbi Kristina was found on January 31 unresponsive in her bathtub and has remained unresponsive in a coma.

Whitney Houston’s Estate

Since being discovered on January 31, Bobbi Kristina has yet to regain consciousness, and there are rumors that her organs have started to fail. With reports that Bobbi Kristina’s family is considering taking her off of life support, people are now looking to the terms of Whitney Houston’s will and estate planning documents. According to the terms in her will, if Bobbi Kristina dies, Whitney Houston’s mother, Cissy, and her two sons are next in line to inherit Ms. Houston’s estate. The estate includes full royalties from the singer’s music, likeness, and image that will continue to distribute revenue over time.

Bobbi Kristina was the beneficiary of a trust for Whitney Houston’s estate. She received ten percent of the estate, around $2 million, when she turned 21 years old. She is scheduled to get another fifteen percent when she turned 25 years old and the remainder of the estate when she turned thirty years old. The will stated that Cissy Houston and her two sons would inherit Whitney Houston’s estate if Bobbi Kristina dies before coming into the majority of the estate.

Other Potential Claimants

Bobbi Kristina’s father and Whitney Houston’s former spouse, Bobby Brown, does not stand to inherit anything from Ms. Houston’s estate, even if his daughter passes away. Bobby Brown was married to Whitney Houston for fourteen years and the couple divorced in 2007. According to experts, Bobby Brown’s opportunity to contest anything in the estate would have been when Whitney passed away. He has no claim purely by virtue of once being married to her.

It also seems unlikely that Bobbi Kristina’s partner, Nick Gordon, would inherit anything, as well. Mr. Gordon was taken in by Whitney Houston when he was twelve but never formally adopted, and he and Bobbi Kristina announced their engagement and marriage publicly. However, a representative of the family has stated that a formal ceremony of marriage never took place. Therefore, Mr. Gordon does not have a valid claim to the estate.

It was Mr. Gordon and a family friend that found Bobbi Kristina in the bathtub in their home in Roswell, Georgia where the couple lived. Authorities are also looking at possible foul play in the incident involving Bobbi Kristina because of injuries found on her face and mouth. Mr. Gordon is currently a target of the investigation, and the couple has a history of domestic abuse. In addition, one of the co-executors of Ms. Houston’s estate, Pat Houston, obtained a restraining order against Mr. Gordon for, among other things, making threatening comments towards her.