Whitney Houston's Family Challenges Details of Singer's Trust

While most of the public has moved on and accepted that the great singer Whitney Houston has passed, her family is still left to handle certain details due to the loss. As a multi-million-dollar earner, Houston was wise to put together an estate plan, more specifically a trust.

She leaves behind a daughter, Bobbi Christina, 19, who has been quite public about the loss of her mother. Houston also leaves behind a trust she created that, in part, gives at least a significant amount of her estate to her teenage daughter. But some of the family believes that the trust's details need some alterations.

We do not know the specifics of the celebrity's trust, just that Houston reportedly left Bobbi Christina $20 million. Business Insider reports that Houston's mother and sister-in-law are attempting to keep the teenager from getting the total sum of the inheritance at her young age. They worry that the large inheritance would lead to bad decisions.

Essentially, the family (Houston's mom being the trustee) wants to put Bobbi Christina on what is sometimes referred to as an allowance. Instead of the teen getting the $20 million as a lump sum, details would be put in place that outline the disbursement of the inheritance over time. To modify the estate plan, the trustee would need to effectively argue to the court that the change would be in the best interest of Houston's estate and her daughter.

Will this situation spin out of control and become a heated estate dispute? It's possible. But hopefully the family will find a way to work it out amicably and in a way that makes them all comfortable. We will post an update when there is a development in this story.

Source: Business Insider, "The Personal Finance Takeaway From Bobbi Kristina's Massive Inheritance," Jill Krasny, Oct. 8, 2012