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Legendary hip hop artist DMX, who was born Earl Simmons, has recently passed away at the age of 50. On April 9th, 2021, his family made the hard choice of removing him from life support after having a heart attack from a cocaine overdose and being in a vegetative state on April 2nd. Despite having sold 74 million albums and having a successful career, DMX, who in fact did not have a will, left behind millions of dollars in debt. A couple of weeks after his death his family, including 15 children from nine different mothers, petitioned the court seeking to become administrators of the rapper’s estate.
Unfortunately, during those hard times after his death, all the family was fighting for the right to control DMX’s recordings, which can potentially offer them a luxurious future income. According to the Billboards, DMX’s total royalties are worth an estimated over $17 million.
With so many assets and children in hand, DMX failed to create an estate plan, leaving his loved ones to be in the process of court, battling the custody of it all. Unfortunately, DMX’s fiancée, Desiree Lindstrom, will need to go through it with it, and potentially suffer the most.
Lindstrom and DMX had been together for 7 years and got engaged in 2019. She gave birth to DMX’s 15th child, Exodus Simmons, in 2016. Despite the love they had for each other, the fiancée will most likely not stand a chance to inherit anything, since DMX never created an estate plan providing for her.
While DMX’s story is quite tragic, failure of creating an estate plan is quite common. Many famous artists, including Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix, have all died without an estate plan, leaving behind their family members fighting for a fortune. Similarly, Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul” passed away in 2018, and her four adult sons are still fighting each other in the courts over her estate.
We address this tragic story about DMX’s passing in the hopes of motivating you to do the right thing and create an estate plan for your loved ones. Estate planning is vital even if you have far less wealth than these artists. Death happens to all of us, sooner than anticipated; However, when you fail to create a proper estate plan, you set your family for a long enduring process with the courts, fighting each other to inherit your assets.
Taking this into account, we will review DMX’s estate planning mistakes and how they could have been avoided. Then, we will outline the steps you should take, in order to guarantee your loved ones never have to endure this enduring and scary process.
The Roller-Coaster Life of DMX:
In the late 1990s, DMX quickly became well-known as one of rap’s biggest stars, after releasing “Party Up” and “X Gon’ Give it to Ya”. Between the years 1998 and 2003, DMX received five consecutive number-one albums and three Grammy Awards. After this, DMX continued his legacy and began performing as an actor, starring in “Romeo Must Die” and “Cradle The Grave”.
Nonetheless, his personal life did not have such a successful trajectory; his personal life included substance abuse and financial and legal problems. During times of uncertainty, DMX filed for bankruptcy in the year 2013, regardless of having earned more than $2.3 million between 2010 and 2015. DMX claimed he had exactly $50,000 in assets and owed more than $1 million in debt. However, the bankruptcy court denied his claim, leaving him with his debt.
It is important to note that the majority of DMX’’s financial problems are rooted in the number of children he fathered with so many different women, who relied on the star for financial support. He originally married his best friend, Tashera Simmons in 1999, where he had four children, until their divorce nearly 15 years after. Nevertheless, during his marriage, DMX had several affairs, which resulted in children.
In 2004, DNA testing confirmed that DMX was the father of at least one child from the times of his affairs. This led the rapper to be sued for unpaid child support and an order to pay $1.5 million to the child’s mother.
To add more to the problem, during his 2013 bankruptcy claim, DMX listed roughly $1.24 million in child support as a priority debt. In fact, DMX’s failure to pay income taxes exacerbated his financial struggles, which eventually landed him in prison.
By the time DMX had spent 1 year in prison, in the year 2019, he still owed $2.3 million in income taxes. According to Radar, in September 2020, the IRS filed a tax lien against DMX and his ex-wife to collect the remaining debt and upon his death, he still owed the IRS an estimated $700,000.
Traumatic Childhood Problems
According to New York Post, DMX was beaten by his mother and her many boyfriends since the age of 6. At the age of 10, he was expelled from his school and ordered to spend 18 months at home for being a troubled youth. By the time DMX was 14, he was living on the streets where he began his journey with substance abuse. His troubles throughout his life most likely stemmed from his traumatic childhood.
In a 2020 interview, conducted by Talib Kweli, DMX shared that his problems with addictions began at the age of 14 when his 30-year-old mentor offered him a joint, which happened to have been laced with crack cocaine. After his first try, DMX mentions that he began using drugs as a coping mechanism, which followed him until his final days.
Over his life, DMX entered several drug rehabilitation centers, even canceling an entire tour due to his battles with addiction. The toxicology report finalized DMX had died from a cocaine-induced heart attack, which ad cut off circulation to the brain. He was revived in the hospital and remained in a coma, till DMX’s mother removed him from life support.
Family Conflict:
Many of his family members, including many of his children, his fiancée, his mother, and his ex-wife were able to visit him in the hospital before his death. Nonetheless, just a few weeks later, those same family members were in court battling each other over the custody of the late rapper’s estate. As we will see next week, with so many potential heirs and so much money, the fight over DMX’s estate will most likely be ugly.
Don’t have this happen to your family. Because DMX failed to create a proper estate plan, his family will need to endure a long process of fighting with each other. Whether you have created an estate plan that needs review or whether you do not have an estate plan, don’t postpone it and contact us today. We, at Legacy Counsel, will ensure you have the correct support and guidance to protect your family, keeping them away from the courts and conflicts, no matter the circumstances.
