Did Luke Perry Plan His Estate?

Fifty-two-year-old Luke Perry suffered a serious stroke recently and was hospitalized under heavy sedation. A few days later, his family made the decision to remove life support, when it was apparent that he wouldn’t recover and after a reported second stroke.

Forbes reports in its article, “Luke Perry Protected His Family With Estate Planning,” that he was surrounded by his children, 21-year-old Jack and 18-year-old Sophie, his fiancé, ex-wife, mother and siblings, when he passed.

The fact that the hospital let Perry's family end life support, means that he likely had executed the proper legal documents, so his family could make the decision. Those documents were most likely an advance directive or a power of attorney. Without these legal documents, Luke's family may have needed to obtain an order from a probate court to terminate life support—a public and emotional process that would have prolonged his suffering and made it even more stressful for his family.

Perry reportedly created a will in 2015. He left everything to his two children. According to a family friend, Perry discovered he had precancerous growths following a colonoscopy. This motivated him to create a will to protect his children.

Luke Perry had a reported net worth of around $10 million, so he may have created a revocable living trust, in addition to a will. If he had only a will, then his estate will have to pass through probate court. However, if he had a trust, and if his trust was properly funded (he transferred his assets into his trust prior to death), then his assets can pass to his children without court involvement.

One question is whether Perry would have wanted something to go to his fiancé, therapist Wendy Madison Bauer. Since his will was drafted in 2015, he likely did not include Bauer at the time. If the couple had married prior to his death, then Bauer would typically have received rights as a "pretermitted spouse." These rights wouldn’t have been automatic, but would have depended on the terms of his will and/or trust, as well as whether the couple signed a prenuptial agreement that addressed inheritance rights. However, if the documents failed to show an intent to exclude Bauer as a beneficiary, then she would’ve been entitled to one-third of his estate under California law, if they’d been married.

Because Perry died before he married Bauer, she’s not entitled to inherit anything through his will or trust, assuming his children are his only beneficiaries, and no later will, trust, or amendment is found that includes her. Perry may have left money for Bauer in other ways, like life insurance, a joint bank account, or an account with a TOD (Transfer on Death) or POD (Payable on Death) clause.

Luke Perry's death provides an important lesson: don’t wait until you’re "old" to do your estate planning. Perry's 2015 cancer scare made him take action, which simplified the process for his family to terminate life support and will likely make the process of dividing his estate easier.

Reference: Forbes (March 8, 2019) “Luke Perry Protected His Family With Estate Planning”