A heartbreaking story in recent news is that of Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston. Several weeks ago, she was found unresponsive in a bathtub in her Roswell home by her thought-to-be husband Nick Gordon and has been on life support ever since. Bobbi Kristina Brown found unresponsive, rushed to hospital, by Jennifer Brett, ajc.com, February 1, 2015. While Brown and Gordon referred to each other as husband and wife and held themselves out as married, Bobby Brown recently released a statement that the two were not ever married, and Gordon corroborated this statement. Nick Gordon calls Bobbi Kristina his "companion," by Jennifer Brett, ajc.com, February 13, 2015. Since Gordon is not Brown's husband (and is now being investigated on suspicion of causing or contributing to her death), questions are raised about who may be entitled to the estate of Bobbi Kristina, which presumably is very large as she inherited everything from her late mother.
If Bobbi Kristina has a will, upon her death her estate will pass according to that will, regardless of her marital status. This means that if her will leaves everything to Gordon, he would receive everything. Martial status would be irrelevant. If she does not have a will, her estate will pass according to the Georgia laws of intestacy. Under the intestacy laws, the first person who will inherit is a spouse. Since Gordon and Bobbi Kristina were not married (and she has no descendants/children, the law skips to any living parent, which is Bobby Brown. O.C.G.A. ยง 53-2-1. Accordingly, if there is no will, Bobby Brown stands to inherit everything from Bobbi Kristina's estate upon her death.
Since Bobbi Kristina was Whitney Houston's sole heir and inherited everything from her estate, her death stands to be a financial windfall for whoever inherits from her. If it is her father, get ready for a heated argument in probate court, as the Houston and Brown families don't always see eye to eye and it is unlikely that they will allow Houston's entire fortune to pass to Brown without a fight.