Carroll Shelby was one of the all-time greats in the automotive realm, and although he is most famous for the creation of cars like the Shelby Mustang and the AC Cobra, he was also a great race car driver before getting into the field of design.
As we reported in a previous post Shelby passed away on May 10 at the age of 89. His surviving family members were subsequently involved in a dispute that was delaying the final arrangements.
Shelby was married multiple times and he had children prior to his final marriage. Cleo Shelby was his wife at the time of his death. She stated that Shelby wanted to be buried and that she has the right to make all decisions with regard to final arrangements as his spouse.
His three children had different ideas. They had legal documents signed by their father stating that he wanted to be cremated.
Because of this dispute the final arrangements were delayed while the legal process of sorting this out began in earnest.
We can now pass along the news about a settlement being reached. Cleo Shelby has agreed to an arrangement that involves cremation with her receiving 1/5 of the ashes. Each of Shelby’s three children receive 20% of the ashes as well and the remaining portion will be buried in Leesburg, Texas in Shelby’s parents’ plot.
Perhaps the dispute could have been avoided if Carroll Shelby would have arranged a meeting between his wife and his children before his death to make his true wishes clear to everyone. Open and honest communication with your family members definitely goes a long way toward preventing estate disputes after your passing.
Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
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