Boyfriend of Whitney Houston’s Daughter Getting into Estate Plan Trouble (Already)

Bobbi-kristina-600Is there a target on Nick Gordon? He might well conclude that. The erstwhile boyfriend of Bobbi Kristina Brown will likely never see the 22-year-old daughter of the late Whitney Houston again. She is now in a Duluth, Georgia hospice, and her family has banned him from her bedside. Instead, Gordon, 25, is being sued for many millions by her representative, court-appointed conservator Bedelia Hargrove. The lawsuit asserts that Gordon beat up Bobbi Kristina on the day she was found, knocking out a tooth, and leaving her in her current brain-damaged and unconscious condition from which she is unlikely to recover. He also allegedly stole thousands from her bank account while she's been unconscious these last five months.

The USA Today article titled, “Lawsuit start of big trouble for Nick Gordon,” asks “why is this guy being sued?”

It appears that his suspect reputation and lying are giving the family of Whitney Houston’s comatose daughter the idea of bringing an action against him in an effort to keep him from claiming a piece of Bobbi Kristina’s million dollar estate.

In the past, Nick Gordon has claimed that he was “informally” adopted by Whitney and that he’s also Bobbi Kristina's husband, which would make him a family member with legal rights.

Attorneys for the family say there is plenty of evidence to show that neither claim is true. Gordon has said nothing, including anything about what happened to Bobbi Kristina before she was found face down and unresponsive in her bathtub in January, similar to her mother's bathtub death three years ago.

 

The article reports that law enforcement officials in Georgia have not determined if they will bring charges against Gordon, but the case is still under investigation. Nonetheless, without any criminal charges, Bobbi Kristina's conservator is claiming in civil court that Gordon is a liar, a thief, a batterer—maybe even a killer. The conservator was appointed by a state family court to protect Bobbi Kristina's assets while she is incapacitated. The court papers claim that Gordon was at one point accused of making threats and was under a restraining order to stay away from Bobbi Kristina's relatives.

Bobbi Kristina is worth millions from the trust Whitney established for her in her will. However, the remainder of Whitney’s sizable estate goes to Bobbi when she turns 30. If Bobbi dies before that, Whitney’s will dictates that those millions revert to the Houston family. Although that scenario may set up a fight between the Houstons and Browns, both sides agree that Gordon should get nothing.

This is a proactive move, the article says, because the family is concerned that Gordon will claim he's entitled to some piece of her estate. But Bobby Brown said that Gordon was never married to Bobbi Kristina, and common-law marriage is not recognized in Georgia. Nonetheless, the family might just settle with him to make him go away.

For more information about estate planning, please visit my estate planning website.

Reference: USA Today (June 28, 2015) “Lawsuit start of big trouble for Nick Gordon”