Pablo Picasso died in April of 1973 at the age of 91 with an estate including assets estimated to be valued somewhere between $100 million and $260 million. Surprisingly he left no Will, and it took over 6 years and $30million to settle the estate. Shortly before his death French Inheritance laws changed permitting illegitimate children to be recognised as heirs. His illegitimate son Claude was appointed by the court to administer and distribute the estate amongst five other heirs.
Protracted legal battles over how best to exploit the Picasso name commercially were eventually settled in 1989. Apart from their collected artworks the most marketable asset of the estate is the licensing of the Picasso name and image and each year the estate fights multiple lawsuits defending the Picasso trademark.
If Picasso had created a will his heirs would not have had to pay over $30 Million in legal fees and he could have directed his estate in the way that he wished.
heirs & successes 