The famed Grease star, Olivia Newton-John at age 73, lost her battle to cancer last year owning a reported $60 million in assets at the time of her death. Originally diagnosed with breast cancer 1992, she went into remission until a second diagnosis in 2013. The cancer later reappeared in 2017 as a stage four breast cancer diagnosis.

During her lifetime, Olivia Newton-John was a champion for cancer research, treatment, and philanthropy. In addition to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Center established at Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, she and her husband, John Easterling, launched a charity called the Olivia Newton-John Foundation in 2020.

 

She only had one child from a prior marriage named Chloe Rose Lattanzi, now age 36. Though she did much charitable giving while she was alive, including establishing a donor advised fund and a charitable foundation, it’s reported that she still had a $60 million estate upon her death.

Although the details of her estate plan and uncertain, many expect that her husband, John Easterling, and her daughter, Chloe Rose, will inherit her estate. She did, however, transfer her California horse ranch worth $5.4 million to her husband before her death.

If Olivia Newton-John left all of her estate to her husband first in one or more marital trusts (QTIP and/or Bypass Trusts), it is possible that there would be no estate tax due on the estate until his death due to the unlimited marital deduction (this allows for a spouse to leave assets to a U.S. citizen spouse without implication of estate taxes-it is unclear if Newton-John's husband is a U.S. Citizen). If that is in fact how she planned her estate, when her husband passes, the estate would most likely pass to Chloe Rose and estate taxes would likely be due at that time. This however will also depend upon whether any sizable gifts to charity upon Olivia’s death were included in her estate now or later upon her husband’s death.

If you have a need to plan to protect your assets for your family or plan for potential future estate taxes, please contact us at (760) 448-2220 or at https://www.geigerlawoffice.com/contact.cfm.
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