Carrie Fisher Leaves Trust, but Probate May Be Necessary

The sole daughter of the actress is the only beneficiary of estate but all of the assets not included in trust. Our California probate lawyer explains more below.

Carrie Fisher’s estate plan includes a living trust with her only daughter, Billie Lourd, as sole beneficiary of the estate worth millions of dollars, according to People in “Carrie Fisher’s Final Assets Revealed, Billie Lourd Named Beneficiary of the Estate.”

Included in the estate is a multi-million dollar home and Star Wars memorabilia, as well as the rights to Fisher’s image and likeness.

However, despite the fact Fisher has a trust, part of the estate might still need to go through probate court, because at the time of her death, Fisher had not placed all of her assets in the trust. Under basic estate law, that means any assets not in the trust need to go through probate court.

However, attorneys for the estate have asked the court to allow all of the assets to be placed in the trust, since that is what Fisher intended. If the request is granted, then probate will not be necessary.

In this case, the request is likely to be granted, since the final result of probate would likely be that the assets would all be inherited by Lourd. If she has no objections, then the court is likely to allow the estate to avoid the costs and time associated with going through probate.

There is still some danger for the estate, since someone else could possibly make an objection to the request.