I would like to discuss two stories that made headlines recently. These cases highlight critical lessons regarding a conversation many clients would prefer to avoid, yet it is one I facilitate regularly because I have witnessed the consequences of delay.
During a single week this July, the families of two influential actors ended up in probate court. While Chadwick Boseman and Malcolm-Jamal Warner had very different lives (spanning different eras of fame and family structures), their legal situations reveal identical failure modes that I encounter frequently: having no plan at all and failing to update an existing one. By examining their stories, you can learn how to avoid these common pitfalls.
What Happens When There’s No Plan: The Boseman Estate
Chadwick Boseman passed away in August 2020 at the age of 43 after a private battle with colon cancer. Despite his high-profile career, including his iconic role as King T’Challa in Black Panther, court filings indicate he died intestate (without a will). In such cases, there is no legal document directing the distribution of assets. Instead, a probate court applies state default succession laws, meaning a judge determines how the estate is administered.
Boseman’s widow was appointed as the estate administrator, tasked with identifying assets and managing the probate process. Although the court issued a distribution order in 2022, the matter was far from settled.
In July 2026, nearly six years after his death, Boseman’s brothers filed a petition on behalf of their parents. They alleged the estate had not been fully distributed despite the previous court order. Their filing requested the removal of the widow as administrator, the appointment of a professional fiduciary and forensic accountant, and a comprehensive accounting of all assets.
While the public record does not establish any wrongdoing, it illustrates the complications of intestacy. Without a clear document to designate authority and instructions, significant room for disagreement remains. Six years later, the Boseman family continues to litigate these issues, most of which likely could have been prevented by a single signed will.
What Happens When the Plan Is Never Updated: The Warner Estate
Malcolm-Jamal Warner (best known for his role on The Cosby Show and more recently on 9-1-1) died in July 2025 at the age of 54. Unlike Boseman, Warner had an estate plan in place. However, this case is perhaps more instructive for my clients because it proves that simply having a plan is not enough.
Warner’s plan was centered on a family trust created in 1996 when he was only 26 years old. This was two decades before he met his wife and well before the birth of their daughter. The trust directed approximately 70% of his assets to his mother, with the remainder divided between his late father and his half-sister.
On the anniversary of his death, Warner’s widow filed a lawsuit against the family trust seeking over $1.2 million based on a 2022 prenuptial agreement. Her argument is that the trust, drafted decades earlier, failed to reflect his current financial obligations to his immediate family. She has stated that he was in the process of replacing the “stale” 1996 plan at the time of his passing.
Regardless of how the court rules, the professional lesson is clear: a document based on the life of a 26-year-old governed the estate of a 54-year-old with a spouse and child. The plan was not missing, but it was frozen in time. This is the most frequent issue I see when reviewing existing estate documents for new clients.
The Pattern I Watch For
I mention these cases together because although they seem like opposites (no plan versus an outdated plan), they stem from the same issue: the plan failed to reflect the life being lived when it mattered most.
Both families likely had access to excellent advisors. This serves as a reminder that simply having resources or older documents is not the same as having a current, effective plan. That discrepancy often leads to public, long-term legal battles years after the original oversight.
What I’d Ask You to Take From This
These issues are not limited to famous families. I frequently meet successful individuals (including business owners and executives) who assume their affairs are in order because a document exists in a file. I encourage you to consider the following points:
A plan is not finished simply because it exists. Warner’s trust was properly executed, yet it failed to protect his closest family because it was never updated. If your documents have not been reviewed in several years, you should prioritize a revision.
Life events should trigger a review. Marriage, divorce, the birth of children, significant asset changes, or the death of a named executor are critical moments to revisit your plan.
Inaction is still a choice. If you do not create a plan, the court will make decisions for you based on state default rules, which rarely account for the specific nuances of your family.
The choice of representatives is vital. Disputes often arise when family members feel excluded or surprised by who was put in charge, rather than just the financial distribution itself.
While I am not an attorney and do not draft these documents myself, I coordinate closely with estate planning professionals to ensure your strategy aligns with your life. I welcome the opportunity to review your current documents with you. It is far better to have these conversations now, on your own terms, than for your family to face them later in a courtroom.