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Celebrity estate wars are well known to Americans, whether it is Jerry Garcia or Anna Nicole Smith or Etta James, reports Reuters. Just because someone has passed away doesn’t mean that they pie they left behind shouldn’t be fought over. But there may be lessons in cases like those of Etta James for just about everyone.

Apparently the most common scenario for celebrity estate wars are second or third marriages with children from multiple marriages. Other celebrity estate wars occur when families were in business together, reports Reuters.

So what should average people take away from reading about celebrity estate feuds?

Did Sarah Berman marry 87-year-old Stanley Lowell just so that she could take over his estimated $400 a month rent controlled apartment? Rent control in New York City is a valuable thing, especially when the market value for similar apartments in the West Village can reach $5,000 a month.

Berman, 63, wed the ailing Lowell last September, reports the New York Post. He died only a month after the marriage, and Berman inherited his cheap rent. However, the landlords of the apartment building doubt that Berman married for love -- instead believing that she conned the elderly gentleman to take over the apartment.

Melissa Gladney of Bedford-Stuyvesant is a recent New York lottery winner. Gladney was lucky enough to win the $1,000 A Week for Life top prize, which appropriately gives her $1,000 a week for life with a minimum prize of $1,000,000.

By winning this particular lottery, the 34-year old healthcare worker has also won some built-in financial planning. Unlike the winners of more conventional lotteries like Power Ball where the winner can choose to take a lump-sum payout or a monthly payment over a period of time, Gladney will get $1,000 every week unless she dies early, in which case the remainder of $1 million will be paid out.

At the Gala With the Gay Community fund-raising event in Manhattan, President Obama was heckled by gay-marriage supporters for his failure to back New York’s same-sex marriage bill. More than 600 gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people paid $1,250 each to attend the event, reports The New York Times, and the President was interrupted on more than one occasion by shouts of “Marriage!”

President Obama acknowledged the shouts and expressed his sympathy:

“And I believed that discrimination because of somebody’s sexual orientation or gender identity ran counter to who we are as a people. It’s a violation of the basic tenets on which this nation was founded. I believe that gay couples deserve the same human rights as every other couple in this country.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a strong advocate of gay marriage, flew to Albany to meet with Senate Republicans in an effort to persuade them to open up the gay marriage bill to a vote. Bloomberg believes that if the gay marriage bills come to the floor, it would pass with votes to spare reports The New York Times.

According to the Times, this year's legislative session is winding to a close next week, and with passage of the gay marriage bill top on many legislators' priority lists, Senate Republicans may have to decide soon whether to allow voting on the bill.

Derek Boogaard, the 28-year old enforcer for the New York Rangers, unexpectedly died in his apartment just a few days after playing in the NHL playoffs. Boogaard was a rough and tough enforcer for the Rangers, and probably one of the least fragile persons you could imagine.

While Derek Boogaard maintained a tough exterior, the NY Times reported he was secretly battling drug addiction at the time of his death. Still, Boogaard's untimely death is likely a jarring surprise to his teammates, fans, and family members. This is because 28-year olds are not supposed to die so young. Especially professional athletes like Boogaard.

The New York Times did a piece on how a large population of elderly single individuals is placing a big burden on Marin County, California. Why is that? More and more of those Marin residents are dying intestate; often alone. When someone dies intestate, and dies alone, it is up to the county to decide what to do with the decedent's assets. That is, after the county has located all of the assets.

While this is an article that covers Marin County, a New York estate planning lawyer will tell you that the same issue crops up in counties in New York as well.

Bloomberg reports that the heirs of Howard Hughes are currently battling General Growth Properties Inc. for an appropriate appraisal of property in Nevada. In the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, a judge ruled that the heirs of Howard Hughes can get a full appraisal process while General Growth Properties confirms its bankruptcy plan this October.

Howard Hughes' heirs are owed close to half of property that was unsold at the Summerlin community close to Las Vegas. It has been estimated to be worth $430 million and has been given a book value of $1.1. billion by the company.

There are plenty of New Yorkers who don't realize that they may need a NY estate attorney until it is too late. Perhaps a little primer on what happens when you die without a will is necessary for New Yorkers.

New York's Surrogate's Courts state that if you pass away without a will, it is called dying "intestate" in the state of New York. When someone dies intestate, that person's assets get distributed among surviving members of the decedents family according to New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law.

A FindLaw Answers user named misse2341 posted a question on FindLaw's Answer board on May 23. The question involved the death of the mother, where the mother left no will.

Although the issue is not specified as a New York specific issue, the question raises an interesting issue for New York probate lawyers.

What happens when a parent dies without a will and leaves behind a husband and children?