Liam Payne's 32.2 Million USD Estate to be Managed by Ex-Girlfriend and Baby Mom Cheryl; Here's What It Means

Trigger Warning: Mention of death.

Seven months since the sudden death of Liam Payne, his ex-partner Cheryl Cole has been appointed administrator of his $32.2 million estate. Payne and Cole dated from 2016 to 2018.

Payne, who died in October last year at the age of 31 due to a reported drug-induced fatal fall from the third floor of a hotel balcony in Argentina, didn’t have a will made. The One Direction singer left behind an 8-year-old son, Bear, whom he shared with Cheryl, 41. She has now been appointed with administrative powers alongside solicitor Richard Mark Bray.

Court papers released on May 1 made the appointment official. The documents, which People has obtained, state Payne's U.K.-based estate was worth around $38 million gross, or $32.2 million net.

According to U.K. law, in the wake of the passing of an individual intestate, i.e., without a will, the estate usually goes to a surviving spouse or next of kin. In Payne's instance, with no legal spouse, the task rested with Cheryl and the designated legal representative.

According to the BBC, although Cheryl and Bray will be in charge of the assets in the estate, their powers are still limited at this point, and no distributions may yet be made. They will "manage the money, but they currently have limited authority and cannot distribute it." Payne's son, Bear, will naturally inherit his entire estate, per the country's laws, wherein the children of the deceased naturally inherit their entire properties in the absence of a legal spouse or civil partner.

Cheryl and Payne dated from 2016 until 2018 and had their son Bear, born in 2017. After the singer's passing, Cheryl made a poignant statement declaring the death to be "earth-shattering."

Liam Payne then dated influencer Kate Cassidy for two years until he died. A U.K. inquest confirmed he died from 'polytrauma' after falling from the hotel balcony in Argentina on October 16, 2024. 

His estate proceedings continue.

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