There Was No Will, But There May Still be a Way: Chadwick Boseman’s Estate Left in the Hands of the Probate Court

 

This guest post is from Chloe Campbell, a 3L at Regent Law and current Wills, Trusts & Estates student who is completing her final year of law school remotely while she clerks for the Schroder Brooks Law Firm, PLC, an entertainment law firm in Richmond, Virginia. This post is a follow-up post to a blog by fellow student Sarahi Saucedo, who wrote on this topic earlier this semester:  

Dying without a will leaves the loved ones of a decedent, and anyone who may think they have a claim in the decedent’s estate, to fight with the probate court for administration of the assets of the estate. No matter how many or how few assets a decedent may have in life, the law will treat each person who dies intestate the same. Sadly, on August 28, 2020, Chadwick Boseman passed away after a four-year battle with cancer, and according to recent court documents filed in Los Angeles County probate court, he passed away without a will, leaving an estate with an estimated value of $938,500 in the hands of the probate court.

In cases such as Boseman’s, close family members will often petition the probate court to gain administrative power over the estate, and as one of my fellow students, Sarahi Saucedo, mentioned in her blog post on this topic, California intestate succession provides that the decedent’s intestate estate will pass first to the spouse, then to any children and grandchildren, and then to parents.

In court papers filed on October 15, Boseman’s widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, asked to be named administrator of Boseman’s estate alongside Boseman’s parents. While Ledward would naturally have “first dibs” on the decedent’s estate under California intestate law, gaining administrative control over the decedent’s estate means she will be able to help control the estate’s distribution.

On November 19, the judge presiding over this case granted Ledward’s request, naming her administrator of the estate with limited authority. Ledward has until February 22, 2022 to file a petition for final distribution, with a hearing already being scheduled for March 22, 2022. Thankfully, there do not seem to be any other challenges to this distribution scheme for Boseman’s estate according to California court records, meaning Ledward and Boseman’s parents will be able to distribute Boseman’s estate in a way that hopefully reflects Boseman’s wishes. 

While this case may ultimately have an ending that is beneficial to all of the parties involved in the distribution of Boseman’s estate, it is saddening to think that any sort of legal action could have been avoided if Boseman had died with a valid will. However, this case also serves as a reminder to everyone, no matter how big or small their estate may be, that estate planning can save our grieving loved ones from having to deal with any unnecessary court actions after we are gone.