If there weren’t already enough reasons to compel you to start creating an estate plan, the estate battles of famous celebrities and wealthy families should serve as just one more reminder that you need to get started right away. As a source of costly and seemingly endless litigation, estate planning conflicts are all too often easily avoided if the people involved just take the appropriate steps. Let’s take a look as some of the common sources of celebrity estate planning conflicts.

Source 1: Second, Third, and Subsequent Marriages. When celebrities marry they often bring along wealth and fame, but also children from previous marriages and ex-spouses. Take, for example, Jerry Garcia. He had children from numerous previous relationships and ended up getting married for a third time shortly before he died. This left behind a mess of litigation involving guitars, merchandise, and the legacy of a widely-loved musician.

Source 2: May-December Romance. Remember Anna Nicole Smith and her marriage to Texas billionaire J. Howard Marshal? The two married when Smith was 26 and Marshal was 89. Marshal had two children, and at the time of death he left everything to one son and nothing to Smith and his other son. The litigation resulting from the estate ended up in years of legal wrangling and a a six-month trial.

Source 3: The Family Business. You don’t have to be Vito Corleone to know that the family business can lead to problems after the person who runs the business dies and leaves it to his or her heirs. A successful family business needs a carefully thought out estate plan to ensure the owner’s wishes are carefully laid out and that all children are accounted for.

The Law Offices Of Cheryl David is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.