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Tom Petty’s Estate: Family Strife Over Estate Management Continues Into The Great Wide Open

An estate plan is not the time to make everyone happy, appease emotions, or even apologize.

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Tom Petty (Photo by Samir Hussein/Getty Images)

Not all blended families are lucky enough to have a stepmother like Carol Brady or Maria von Trapp,  managing a gaggle of children while smiling and singing scales. Similarly, not all stepparents have the disposition of Lady Tremaine, Cinderella’s evil stepmother who famously favored her own daughters, Anastasia and Drizella, all the while tormenting her stepdaughter.

The truth is, generally, poor relationships between stepparents and stepchildren do not improve when the unifying agent, the spouse/parent, passes away. In fact, it usually worsens.

In October 2017, singer-songwriter Tom Petty passed away at the age of 66 from an accidental overdose. He was survived by two adult daughters, Adria Petty and Annakim Violette, and a wife, Dana York. York is not the daughters’ mother as they are children born of Petty’s first marriage. Unsurprisingly, news reports reveal post-mortem strife between the daughters and their stepmother as the relationship between them was not amicable during Petty’s lifetime.

From a document perspective, Tom Petty appears to have been prepared for death. He employed the use of a trust to distribute and control his assets upon his passing, seemingly instilling that power onto his wife, with input from his daughters. A trust, if properly administered, can avoid the probate courts upon the grantor’s passing and fairly seamlessly transfer control of assets to a successor fiduciary, in this case, Petty’s spouse. This is generally a good thing as privacy can be preserved, beneficiaries can receive their inheritances more quickly, and administration may be less expensive with regard to court fees, commissions, and legal costs.  Unfortunately for the Petty family, despite the existence of an estate plan centered around a trust, probate court is where his survivors find themselves.

As a result of tension, disagreement, and anger between and with her stepdaughters, the widow recently filed a petition requesting that the court appoint a manager to supervise decision-making for Petty’s estate. York alleges that she has attempted to work with her stepdaughters, but certain behaviors have made it difficult to execute estate business. Specifically, there are issues concerning the release of new solo tracks that Petty made 25 years ago. York wanted the recordings to be included in an anniversary release of Petty’s iconic Wildflowers. The daughters disagree.

Unsurprisingly, Adria Petty has filed her own petition in probate court claiming that York failed to create a limited liability company holding various artistic properties, per Petty’s estate plan. The company, she alleges, would be divided equally between the widow and children. Additionally, Adria wishes to be part of decisions on Petty’s afterlife releases and business ventures. Since Petty’s passing, An American Treasure and The Best of Everything have been released.

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Unfortunately, this kind of situation is not uncommon. Blended families and multiple marriages can create unique situations in administering an estate. Often parents of children from previous marriages employ estate-planning techniques to ensure that their nonmarital children are provided for upon one’s passing, in addition to a surviving spouse.

There will always be a tension between a surviving  spouse and adult children from a prior spouse. Without proper planning, it is possible that a spouse will inherit an estate and pass it when he dies to his children, who are not the children of the decedent. This is often an unintended consequence of a decedent who is looking to make certain that his surviving spouse is cared for throughout the remainder of his life. Additionally, it is possible that a second or third spouse may use his inheritance through his lifetime, leaving nothing for the children, inapposite to a decedent’s wishes.

There are many ways to mitigate the potential for estate problems amongst blended families. If marrying for a second or third time, consider executing a prenuptial agreement. If purchasing a residence, consider that your surviving spouse will need a place to live for the remainder of his life. Perhaps grant him a life estate and when he passes away, the property reverts to your children (and not his). One could make an arrangement like this with monetary assets as well. Often individuals with children from different marriages will assign life insurance policies or financial accounts to specific children that pass outside of a will or trust. Individuals should also be wary of ERISA rules regarding surviving spouse benefits, especially when the surviving spouse is not whom the principal intends to receive her death benefit.

The magnitude and creativity imbedded in the estate of a great, like Tom Petty, make for tremendous emotion amongst his survivors. It would seem that Petty sought to include his three survivors in decision making as best as possible. Sometimes, however, it isn’t worth it to be so considerate. In administering an estate, especially one with potential for business and revenue, clear and firm management is needed. An estate plan is not the time to make everyone happy, appease emotions, or even apologize. When choosing fiduciaries, especially a trustee or executor, make certain the individual can make a sound decision and she can weather a storm as great as a stepparent/stepchild relationship. Or in the words of Tom Petty, someone who won’t back down.

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Cori A. Robinson is a solo practitioner having founded Cori A. Robinson PLLC, a New York and New Jersey law firm, in 2017. For more than a decade Cori has focused her law practice on trusts and estates and elder law including estate and Medicaid planning, probate and administration, estate litigation, and guardianships. She can be reached at cori@robinsonestatelaw.com. 

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