Cheryl Tweedy has been named an administrator of the £24million estate left behind by Liam Payne, who died without a will.
The former One Direction singer died on October 16 last year after he fell from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, with the Argentinian prosecutor’s office sharing at the time that his cause of death was due to multiple traumas and internal and external bleeding. He was 31 years old.
Payne and Tweedy were in a relationship between 2016 and 2018 and their son, Bear, was born in March 2017. Under UK law, if a person dies without making a will, their spouse and then their children are first in line to inherit, so Tweedy, as Bear’s legal guardian, is now legally responsible for Payne’s money, property and possessions. The music industry lawyer Richard Mark Bray has also been named as an administrator.
The gross value of the estate stands at £28,594,888 according to court documents, while the net value after expenses and debts is £24,279,728 (via The Guardian).
In March, Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy admitted that she is “still working on accepting” his death. “I find myself talking about him so much in the present tense … I don’t even feel the need to correct myself because that’s part of my healing journey,” Cassidy said. “I’m still working on accepting the fact that he’s not here anymore, so it’s hard for me to refer to him in the past tense.”
Cassidy had been with Payne in Argentina on holiday prior to his death, where they had also watched Payne’s One Direction bandmate Niall Horan‘s concert. Before Payne’s death, Cassidy returned home as she had “responsibilities” to take care of.
Meanwhile, Payne’s family recently spoke about the “indescribable, lasting damage” that media intrusion has had on them since his death.
At the BRIT Awards in March, an emotional tribute video aired for the singer, with host Jack Whitehall saying it was time to honour “a very special person who meant so much to so many of the people in this room and to millions of you around the world.”
Five people were arrested and charged in connection to Payne’s death. Among those were the singer’s friend Roger Nores and two members of staff at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel Gilda Martin and Esteban Grassi. All three of them were exonerated of all charges earlier this year.
In January, a hearing at Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court confirmed that Payne’s death was the result of “polytrauma”, which refers to multiple traumatic injuries sustained by a body’s organ systems.
