Hey there, Legal Tea Listeners! This is your host, Jenny Rozelle. We’re back to “estate planning of the rich and famous” where we chat about celebrities and their estate planning (or lack thereof!). Today’s episode is on Anthony Bourdain – I actually had to double check to make sure I had not done an episode on him before because I thought I had. I’m at the point in this podcast where 1) I don’t remember sometimes if I have done an episode on something or not and 2) If it is a celebrity estate planning episode, what happened in various celebrities estates because I have done so many … that they are all mixed in my head now. I guess that’s what happens when you have 180+ episodes. Anyway, so today is Anthony Bourdain – a chef, an author, and was even on TV for his famous show, No Reservations. We’ll get into all-things-Anthony, first and foremost, and then shift into what happened following his death in 2018.
According to Wikipedia and Biography.com, Anthony was a super influential American chef, author, and television personality who revolutionized food and travel journalism. He first gained widespread recognition with his 2000 book "Kitchen Confidential," an honest memoir that exposed the intense, often chaotic world of professional kitchens. The book's success launched his television career, beginning with "A Cook's Tour" on Food Network, followed by the hugely successful "No Reservations" on Travel Channel, which I loved that show, and finally "Parts Unknown" on CNN.
Anthony was born in 1956 in New York City and raised in New Jersey. He developed his deep passion for food while working as a dishwasher in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He ended up graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and went on to work in various New York restaurants, eventually becoming executive chef at a very well-known restaurant that I’d likely butcher if I tried to say it! Even though he was a famous chef surrounded by food, it honestly was his work as a storyteller, cultural ambassador, and global traveler that really put his name on a bigger map and defined his legacy.
On to more personal things, still according to Wikipedia and Biography, Anthony was married twice. His first marriage to Nancy Putkoski lasted twenty years (from 1985 to 2005). Anthony and Nancy did not have any children together. Though, after he and Nancy divorced, he married Ottavia (O-tay-via) Busia (Boo-see-uh) in 2007, with whom he had his only child, a daughter Ariane (Arr-ee-on), who was born the same year of 2007. Anthony and Ottavia ended up separating in 2016 – they remained fairly close and co-parented Ariane. After they separated, Anthony ended up starting a relationship with Asia Argento, an Italian actress. They never married, but they really couldn’t because he and Ottavia (O-tay-via) actually never officially divorced.
Fast forward some time, to 2018, Anthony was in France filming “Parts Unknown” when he was found dead in a hotel room. That specifically was on June 8, 2018 and he was 61 years old at the time. He had taken his own life, tragically. After his death, headlines started popping up about his estate … and I can confirm he did have an estate plan. His estate plan consisted of a Last Will and Testament that he had prepared in 2016, according to Page Six. His Will was filed in a New York Court, so it is publicly available; hence why so many news outlets have a lot of information about his estate and what transpired estate-wise following his passing. According to Page Six, initial reports were that his estate was around $16 Million, but it was later confirmed that his estate was actually estimated to be around $1.2 Million – which surprised a lot of people.
Unsurprisingly, his Will left his estate to his daughter, who was 11 years old at the time, Ariane (Arr-ee-on). Though, he left her inheritance through his Will, but inside a Trust. What that is called in my world, the fancy term that is, is what is called a Testamentary Trust – which means it’s a Trust created inside his Will. Now, as his estate shows, if someone has a Will, even with a Testamentary Trust inside, that is going to require probate to “activate” the Will and the Trust that is inside the Will. I mention this because it’s a common misconception that Trusts avoid probate – MANY Trusts do avoid probate, but a Testamentary Trust, since it’s inside a Will and Wills get probated, do NOT avoid probate. There’s your little fun fact for the day! You’re welcome!
Now, with a Trust, even a Testamentary Trust, you place what-is-called a Trustee of the Trust, which Trustee is who manages the Trust – Anthony put his daughter’s mother, Ottavia (O-tay-via), as the Trustee. So like I mentioned earlier, it seems that he and the Mom were not enemies; in fact, they appear to be amicable, even though they separated. Naming her as the Trustee … to me, that means he trusted her do be in charge of their daughter’s money. I can tell you that I meet with A LOT of people that I absolutely refuse to do something like that – so that’s why I think he must have really trusted her to take care of their daughter and her money / her inheritance.
In the Court records for Anthony’s estate, it shows that his estate consisted of: $425,000 in “cash and savings,” $35,000 in a brokerage account, $250,000 and “personal property,” and $500,000 in “intangible property including royalties and residuals.” As Page Six noted, the Court records did no include a condo he bought with Ottavia (O-tay-via) – but did mention a $1 Million mortgage on a property. Many wonder if it’s in regards to that property, specifically, and if her name was on the property, it’s likely that the condo’s ownership transitioned to her “outside” of his estate and Will – but maybe the mortgage was tied to his name alone. That is my educated guess.
Something else that was released, which is something we have NEVER talked about here on Legal Tea before, was that he had a specific provision in his estate plan that dealt with his massive pile of frequent flyer miles – he left those to Ottavia (O-tay-via). Interesting, right? In the provision, according to Forbes, Anthony left them for her to “dispose of in accordance to what she believes to be his wishes.” The Forbes article talks a little bit about this and I think I’m just going to read it verbatim because it’s well-said. It’s kind of long, but really important stuff here for folks who play the “frequently flyer” / “travel rewards” game (hey, I do!) – alright, this is what it says…
“Passing on your airline points is not as straightforward as completing a beneficiary designation form. Each airline has its own specific policy. As a result, many estate planners include airline miles and frequent flyer programs in the tangible asset provisions of an estate plan. But you need to be careful. Paula Leibovitz Goodwin, partner in the Personal Planning Group at Perkins Coie LLP in San Francisco, says, “Loyalty programs are essentially contracts with the airline and you need to review each airline’s contract to see what is possible after death.” She adds, “You cannot assume all of the contracts are the same. It is possible that the contract is not even assignable, and the airline spells out who the beneficiaries will be.” Ultimately [Anthony] made the smartest choice he could with his estate plan. He documented it in his will and designated a specific agent. With this type of documentation, there would be a greater likelihood his points would transfer to the beneficiary of record. In his case, given his professional traveler status, it would be a PR nightmare for any of the airlines to deny his beneficiaries.”
So yeah. I’m glad I did an episode on Anthony’s estate because like I said, I have never talked about this topic on Legal Tea. Something new and different for your ears! You know, as we start to wrap up this episode, I think another “side” of Anthony’s estate is that he maintained his value and love of using food as a bridge between cultures and people. Many of his personal belongings, including his writing desk, manuscript drafts, and other personal effects, were acquired by the Library of Congress, ensuring their preservation for future generations. His show "Parts Unknown" also continues to influence the style and approach of food and travel documentaries, with many current hosts citing Anthony as a major inspiration.
You know, at the end of the day, Anthony had an estate plan (yay!) which supported his daughter, who inherited the majority of his estate and like I jus finished talking about … his estate is a reminder that our assets sometimes we cannot feel and touch. Sometimes, they are things like accumulated frequent flyer miles – which with Anthony, is a particularly touching detail given his life of constant travel. This is such a beautiful reminder for all of us that estate planning is typically just a bit more complex and complicated than many think it is … even in cases that seem very simple on the surface. I have talked about on here before how much I don’t like the saying, “I just need a really simple Will.” A lot think that exists, and I guess it DOES exist, but if we could all agree that there are a lot of decisions to make (like who goes in what role and how do beneficiaries inherit) and there are A LOT of mistakes that can be made – so no, it’s not simple, even though many think their situation is. Saying estate planning is simple is honestly doing you a disservice.
Alrighty, let’s wrap this episode up and shift to a sneak peak at next week. Next week we’re back to a “cautionary tale” episode where we talk about real-life clients, real-life cases that I, or my office, have worked on -or- maybe they are just generally good things to know/be aware of so you don’t slip up and turn into a cautionary tale one day. Next week, we are going to talk about a real-life situation where a family received some legal advice from an attorney that dabbled in a little bit of everything … well, they acted on said advice and now, decades later, they are having to play clean-up on some things. It all has to do with what they did with some deeds on the family farm. Anyway, so yeah – that’s next time. Until then, Legal Tea Listeners…take care and be well!
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