When he passed away, David Cassidy did not have as many assets left as might be expected for a celebrity. The total value of his estate is approximately $150,000.
Most of his estate is willed to his son but his daughter actress Katie Cassidy was cut out of the will.
A law firm that had previously sued Cassidy in 2013 for unpaid legal bills and won, filed a suit against the estate.
Cassidy had paid some of the judgment against him to the law firm, but still owed $102,000.
Cassidy filed for bankruptcy in 2015 but his case was dismissed without discharging the debt to the law firm, according to the Daily Mail in “David Cassidy’s estate is sued for $102,000 by law firm for five years of unpaid legal bills – putting $150,000 worth of assets in peril.”
This highlights an important legal point in estate law. This is because most people will pass away with some form of debt.
Almost all debt must be paid by the estate, before distributing any assets to heirs.
That is unfortunate for Cassidy’s son, because the total debt plus the legal fees associated with defending against the lawsuit will likely leave the estate with almost nothing.
Whenever an estate owes more debt than it has in assets, the heirs to the estate will inherit nothing.
There is nothing unusual about that.
Reference: Daily Mail (Dec. 9, 2017) “David Cassidy’s estate is sued for $102,000 by law firm for five years of unpaid legal bills – putting $150,000 worth of assets in peril.”
