Liam Payne reportedly died without a will.
According to U.K. court records obtained by Rolling Stone, Payne did not have an executed will when he unexpectedly died in October 2024. The outlet reports that Cheryl Cole, the mother of Payne’s only child, was named one of the administrators of his estate.
Payne’s estate, per the court paperwork, is worth approximately £28,594,888 ($38 million). In addition to Cole, 41, attorney Richard Mark Bray was also named an estate administrator.
Since Payne did not sign an advance directive ahead of his death at 31, Cole and Bray are now responsible for Payne’s money, property and possessions. It is possible that the assets could be put aside into a trust for his 8-year-old son, Bear.
Cheryl Cole attended ex-boyfriend Liam Payne’s funeral on Wednesday, November 20. The singer looked somber as she walked to the church hosting Payne’s private funeral in Amersham, England. Cole, 41, wore all black and sunglasses as she entered solo. Cole and Payne share 7-year-old son Bear. Payne died at age 31 on October 16 after […]
The Guardian also cited British and Welsh law, explaining that an individual’s spouse and children have the first claim to a person’s estate after death.
The former One Direction singer suffered a fatal fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires last fall. Payne is survived by Bear, whom he and Cole welcomed in 2017, his parents, his two older sisters and his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy.
Liam Payne and Cheryl Cole at the Brit Awards in 2018. Getty/ Karwai Tang
After Payne’s death, Cole broke her silence on the loss.
“As I try to navigate this earth-shattering event and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I’d like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being,” she wrote via Instagram, sharing a throwback pic of Payne with then-newborn Bear. “Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7-year-old son. A son [who] now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again.”
She added, “Please give Liam the little dignity he has left in the wake of his death to rest in some peace at last.”
One Direction alum Liam Payne died on October 16, 2024, at the age of 31. That evening, Us Weekly confirmed Payne had fallen to his death from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The singer had sustained a cranial fracture and other serious injuries that were too severe for treatment. Local emergency responders […]
Cole later joined Payne’s family, 26-year-old Cassidy, and his former One Direction bandmates at an intimate funeral service in England in November 2024.
Payne’s sisters, Ruth and Nicola, have also rallied around Bear in the months since his death.
“We’ll take care of Bear and he will always know how incredible his dad is and how much you idolize him,” Ruth wrote via Instagram in October 2024. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. Love you, oh how my heart misses you.”
Nearly six months later, Ruth opened up about her grief journey.
“Six months, half a year without you?” Ruth wrote via Instagram last month. “My head is still screaming for you. Each morning, [upon] waking, I feel like I am plunged underwater, gasping for air that never comes to relieve me. Living without you is impossible, so for now, I exist. I’m learning to laugh or smile in the right places, but mate, it’s exhausting.”
