What Can We Learn from Barry White? Estate Planning Lessons from a Legal Love Ballad

The legendary soul and R&B singer died in 2003 at the age of 58, leaving behind a $20M estate. At the time of his passing, the Walrus of Love (yes, that’s his nickname) was married to his second wife, but had been living with his long-term girlfriend, Katherine. A month before his passing, Katherine gave birth to a baby girl.

White did not have an updated last will, but allegedly made all kinds of verbal promises and agreements with folks about his estate.

• The estranged wife got his inheritance through his outdated will.
  
• As you can imagine, his estate was contested, not once, not twice, but thrice by his (alleged) children.
  
• In one fascinating case, DNA evidence showed Katherine’s daughter was not White’s child.
  
• Katherine did not stand to inherit much, despite her claims that she was promised to be taken care of through other agreements.
  

So, what can we learn from this love ballad legal battle?

Let’s talk about revoking a last will. While it sounds easy, revoking a will can get a little tricky. Florida allows us to revoke last wills in two ways:

1. Revocation by Subsequent Writing

(Section 732.505, Florida Statutes)

Under this statute, a will can be revoked simply by the testator (the person creating the will) doing one of the following:

• Drafting a new will that is inconsistent with the previous will, or
  
• Executing a new will that expressly states something like:
  “I hereby renounce and revoke all previous wills made by me.”
  

Note:
The new will must be executed with the same formalities required for creating a valid will under Florida law.

2. Revocation by Physical Act

(Section 732.506, Florida Statutes)

This method allows a will to be revoked by physically destroying it, such as:

• Burning
  
• Tearing
  
• Defacing
  

If the testator (or testatrix if female) directs someone else to destroy the will, the testator must be present for the act.

Fun Fact:
In my office, we always have a little ceremonial destruction of the last will—testators rip a corner of their last will before I shred them—to satisfy this requirement.

Intent ≠ Revocation

A dramatic gesture does NOT guarantee the will is revoked. This isn’t about intent!

Example: Estate of Bancker

A Florida Court of Appeals case where the testator instructed his family to flush his 1966 will down the toilet while he was in another room.

The ruling?

• This act was insufficient to revoke his will.
  
• Why? The testator must be present when a will is physically destroyed.
  
• The court said he would have had to be in the bathroom during the flush for it to count. (Yup!)
  

Final Note

There is nothing wrong with a little ceremonial destruction of last wills when we want to update our final wishes.

And remember, no Floridian should attempt to flush anything “exotic” down the toilet, given our plumbing problems!