If you have been following the death of the actress Natalie Wood, you have no doubt been wondering: Who inherited Natalie Woods’ estate? The mystery surrounding Wood’s death has been around since 1981, when she drowned. Although her death was ruled an accident at the time, the case has been reopened recently, and her husband, Robert Wagner, has been named a “person of interest” in the case. If he has not been formally charged with Wood’s death, he may be worried about the financial consequences of a criminal investigation.
If Wagner is the only person named as the executor or trustee of Wood’s estate, it is possible that he is a victim of murder. In California, profiting from a victim’s estate is against state law. However, Wood’s estate was created when she died, and she named Wagner as her trustee and executor. Since her death occurred after the slayer statute, the estate’s beneficiaries would not have received the money, but Wagner is the beneficiary of half of Wood’s estate.
If the law is changed, this may change. The coroner’s declaration shows that Mrs. Wood died in 2004, and her brother survived her. However, the Supreme Court may still award the money to her brother’s estate. In addition to this, she left a large amount of money in a Commonwealth Bank account, and she left her home worth over $800,000.