Nearly a year and a half after One Direction star Liam Payne died after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina, new legal documents have shed light on what will happen to his estate. Payne died in October 2024 at age 31 after falling from a balcony at the CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires. He left no valid will, and he had not made an estate plan.
Although Payne’s fortune was first estimated at about $31 million, recent disclosures say he also left debts and expenses. A court has now valued the net estate at roughly $27 million. Under the court’s decision, Payne’s former partner and the mother of his child, singer Cheryl Cole, was given authority to manage the estate together with music lawyer Richard Bray.
They decided that the entire inheritance will go to the couple’s 8-year-old son, Bear Grey Payne. Payne’s partner of the last two years, Kate Cassidy, will receive nothing. British inheritance rules are strict, and without a will, only spouses, registered civil partners, or direct family members are entitled to inherit.
Friends of Cole said, “Cheryl always does the right thing for her beloved son.” They added that Payne “always wanted to take care of him and do the right thing for him financially,” and that he admired Bear. A postmortem found traces of alcohol, cocaine, and antidepressant medication in Payne’s body.
