{"id":40273,"date":"2025-08-23T11:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T11:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=40273"},"modified":"2025-08-23T16:57:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T16:57:13","slug":"hulk-hogans-daughter-cant-write-herself-out-of-the-wrestlers-will-but-she-can-refuse-to-take-his-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/hulk-hogans-daughter-cant-write-herself-out-of-the-wrestlers-will-but-she-can-refuse-to-take-his-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Hulk Hogan\u2019s daughter can\u2019t write herself out of the wrestler\u2019s will \u2013 but she can refuse to take his money"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reid Kress Weisbord<\/a>, Rutgers University – Newark<\/a><\/em> and Naomi Cahn<\/a>, University of Virginia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When professional wrestler and former reality TV<\/a> star Hulk Hogan died on July 24, 2025<\/a>, he left behind a grieving widow, two ex-wives<\/a>, two children, two grandchildren<\/a> he reportedly never met and a US$25 million fortune<\/a>. He was 71 years old<\/a> and died after having a heart attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News quickly broke that his daughter, entertainer Brooke Hogan, was estranged<\/a> from her father, that she would \u201cget nothing<\/a>\u201d from him and that she had arranged to have herself \u201ctaken out<\/a>\u201d of his will by asking Hogan\u2019s financial manager<\/a> to remove her name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After her father, legally known as Terry Bollea<\/a>, died, Brooke Hogan posted on Instagram<\/a>. She said that they had shared a \u201cquiet, sacred bond<\/a>,\u201d and it felt like part of her \u201cspirit left with him.\u201d But she also claimed that she had been \u201cverbally and mentally abused since childhood<\/a>.\u201d She did not attend his funeral<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As law professors<\/a> who research and write about trusts and estates<\/a>, we teach courses about the transfer of property during people\u2019s lifetimes and after they\u2019ve died. We believe that the questions arising over who will inherit Hogan\u2019s wealth offer important insights into how family estrangement can affect estate planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making an unusual request<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Journalists initially speculated about why Brooke \u201cwrote herself out<\/a>\u201d of her father\u2019s will, and earlier this month, she explained<\/a>: Brooke was \u201cscared\u201d of the fighting that would come after her dad died. She said she was worried that there might be conflicts with her mother and her father\u2019s third wife, Sky Daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, to be clear, while anyone can ask to be left out of a will, they really don\u2019t have any control over whether that ultimately happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A will is a document<\/a> that spells out how money and other property should be distributed after someone dies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The person who signs the will \u2013 technically known as the “testator<\/a>” \u2013 is the only one with the power to change or revoke their own will. They don\u2019t have to tell anyone what the will says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the witnesses who sign it may not know who is left any property. They usually are not informed of the bequests made within the will, and some states don\u2019t even require that witnesses know the document being signed is a will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means only Hulk Hogan could decide what his will said about who would get what once he died. Yes, Brooke Hogan could have asked him to exclude her from his will, but the final decision was up to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refusing an inheritance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A will\u2019s provisions only become final when someone dies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until then, the person can change their will multiple times. At death, the will can no longer be changed, but anyone who is named to receive property can refuse their inheritance. Refusing gifted or inherited property is known as a “disclaimer<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, when someone disclaims property, it goes to the next people in line \u2013 usually their children. If the person disclaiming property had no children at the time of death, the assets may go to their siblings or other relatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might wonder why anyone would turn down an inheritance in the first place. One common situation arises when an heir is deep in debt. In these cases, disclaiming an inheritance can allow them to keep the money in the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This arrangement is legal in many states<\/a> as long as the heir is not already in bankruptcy proceedings<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hypothetical example<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To understand how this might work, suppose an heir, whom we\u2019re calling \u201cPat,\u201d is left $4 million in his mother\u2019s will. The timing is terrible for him because he\u2019s deeply in debt, owing $5 million to creditors after the company he launched went belly up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Pat accepts that fortune, his creditors would be able to seize it. But he has a daughter, whom we\u2019re calling \u201cMarcy.\u201d By refusing his inheritance, that $4 million can pass directly to Marcy. This arrangement is complicated but could leave Pat\u2019s family better off because Marcy is free to spend her grandmother\u2019s millions to pay off her college loans, buy a house and pay for her father\u2019s rent \u2013 all without any risk of those assets being taken by his creditors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refusing an inheritance can also reduce the estate tax<\/a> for the person who does so. The estate tax applies when people transfer lots of wealth at death. Under the tax reforms passed in July 2025<\/a>, the first $15 million is exempt from the estate tax for individuals as of 2026, and twice that much for married couples. The exemption threshold is adjusted yearly for inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federal estate tax rate, which applies only to anything beyond the $15 million mark, is 40%<\/a>, although many rich people take steps to reduce its impact through a handful of financial planning techniques<\/a>. Many states have their own<\/a> estate and inheritance taxes too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning back to Pat\u2019s mother, suppose that her estate was worth $100 million. If Pat accepts the inheritance, a 40% estate tax would apply. And if Pat leaves more than $15 million in 2026 dollars to his heirs without taking any steps to shield those assets, another 40% estate tax would be levied when he leaves his fortune to Marcy. But if Pat disclaims, then the government would only collect the estate tax once because his mom\u2019s assets would skip him and go straight to Marcy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because Brooke Hogan asked to be disinherited before her father died, her request wasn\u2019t a typical disclaimer. If she was not, in fact, included in Hulk Hogan\u2019s will, as she requested, then there would be nothing for her to disclaim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Brooke Hogan is named in her father\u2019s will and disclaims now that Hulk Hogan is dead, the most likely outcome is that her children, twins who were born in January 2025<\/a>, would get their mother\u2019s inheritance. egan to air, he and his first wife got divorced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being estranged from close relatives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Estate disputes can become very contentious when members of a family are estranged<\/a>, meaning that their relationships have soured or even broken off completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Brooke Hogan was reportedly concerned about avoiding litigation, given her estrangement from her father, it is usually the testator who takes action during the estate planning process to prevent disputes after they die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s one reason why most wills \u2013 nearly 70% of them according to one study<\/a> \u2013 include a \u201cno contest\u201d clause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These clauses typically say something like \u201canyone who contests my will shall be disinherited from my estate.\u201d Estate planners who recommend this technique believe that the penalty discourages unhappy heirs from filing lawsuits, which usually incur high attorney\u2019s fees<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fighting over money after a relative dies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What makes Brooke Hogan\u2019s case unusual is that she asked to be disinherited to avoid a court battle over her father\u2019s estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many estranged families, the situation is the opposite: Heirs sue because they are disappointed by their share of the estate when they are either disinherited or given less than expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Brooke Hogan, who says that she asked to be left out of her father\u2019s will to avoid involving herself in any new family conflicts<\/a>, the concern is understandable. Estate litigation can take an emotional toll by dragging grieving relatives into courtroom battles that are lengthy, expensive and make family rifts even worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reid Kress Weisbord<\/a>, Distinguished Professor of Law and Judge Norma Shapiro Scholar, Rutgers University – Newark<\/a><\/em> and Naomi Cahn<\/a>, Professor of Law, University of Virginia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reid Kress Weisbord, Rutgers University – Newark and Naomi Cahn, University of Virginia When professional wrestler and former reality TV star Hulk Hogan died on July 24, 2025, he left behind a grieving widow, two ex-wives, two children, two grandchildren he reportedly never met and a US$25 million fortune. He was 71 years old and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":40274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,279,7,10,36,27,15533,38],"tags":[10691,16801,11085,11086,11038,16711,3450,885,891,886,860,540,14383],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40273"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40275,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40273\/revisions\/40275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}