Liam Payne’s nine-year-old son Bear has been named as the sole beneficiary to inherit the late singer’s $29million estate.
The solo artist and former One Direction member, died in October 2024 following a fatal fall from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Argentine prosecutor’s office revealed that the 31-year-old’s cause of death was due to multiple traumas and internal and external bleeding.
Now, coming up to two years since his passing, it appears that his nine-year-old son is the sole inheritor of $29,007,998 (£21,926,420) from the singer’s estate.
People reported this figure and claimed it was shared in court documents. The outlet also shares that while some of the money can be accessed now, the majority of it will be held in a trust until Bear turns 18-years-old.
Bear is the son of Payne and Cheryl Cole, and was born on March 22 2017.
Last May, Cheryl and attorney Richard Mark Bray were named as the administrators of Payne’s estate, as the singer died without a will, and it was reported that the gross value of his estate was around $38million (£28.72million).
Liam Payne’s nine-year-old son, Bear Gray Payne, has been confirmed as the sole beneficiary of the late One Direction star’s estate following a High Court ruling.
Payne, who passed away on October 16, 2024, aged 31, left no will, meaning his estimated $32 million net estate… pic.twitter.com/YYuIxFa97G
— KiSS 92.5 (@KiSS925) June 23, 2026
In the UK, estates are usually issued to the deceased’s lawful spouse, or to their nearest blood relative if they were unmarried. BBC News reports that Bray and Cheryl will be able to “manage the money”, but only have “limited authority and cannot distribute it”.
Last month, One Direction bandmate Niall Horan looked back on memories he shared with Payne, and said that grief had brought a mixture of “sadness” alongside fond reflection.
Before then, Harry Styles said the death of his former bandmate made him re-evaluate how he saw life, and Louis Tomlinson addressed the loss and said it was “impossibly difficult for him to deal with”.
Simon Cowell, who helped launch One Direction’s career, also opened up about the death in an interview, and Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy has shared her final moments with the late singer, and defended her plans to travel on the first anniversary of his death.