Aretha Franklin Died Without a Will, Trust or Special Needs Plan in Place

I always end up scratching my head when I hear that another ultra-wealthy celebrity has died without a proper legal plan in place. Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul,” recently died of advanced pancreatic cancer without a will, trust or special needs plan. This means that her $80 million-dollar estate will have to go through a lengthy probate process—which could take years and cost her estate thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It especially strange that she didn’t plan since...