Liam Payne's former girlfriend Cheryl named administrator of $32M estate: Reports

USA Today

08-05-2025

Liam Payne's former girlfriend Cheryl named administrator of $32M estate: Reports
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One Direction's Liam Payne laid to rest at private funeral
One Direction bandmates Harry, Zayn, Niall and Louis attended the private funeral for Liam Payne.
Seven months after the tragic death of One Direction star Liam Payne, the late singer's multimillion-dollar estate is being finalized, according to reports.
Payne's former girlfriend, British pop singer Cheryl, and attorney Richard Bray have been named the administrators of his estate, according to People magazine and Rolling Stone. The British pop star and former teen idol, who died at age 31 after falling off a hotel balcony, reportedly did not have a will.
Payne and Cheryl dated from 2016-2018, and the former couple shared 8-year-old son Bear. Meanwhile, Bray is a British attorney who works for the entertainment law firm Bray & Krais. Bray has represented "many high-profile artists, performers, managers, record labels, publishers and senior executives" throughout his career, according to the Bray & Krais website.
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Payne, Cheryl and Bray for comment.
The gross, or total, value of Payne's estate is approximately $38 million, People and Rolling Stone report, while the estate's net value — the total after all charges have been deducted — is about $32 million.
Per the BBC, Cheryl and Bray will manage the estate's money as administrators, but they "currently have limited authority and cannot distribute it." The British outlet also noted that children of a deceased person in the U.K. typically inherit the estate if there is no living spouse or civil partner.
Payne died in October 2024 after the singer fell from his third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur hotel in Buenos Aires. Local police said Payne's fall resulted in "extremely serious injuries," and he was confirmed dead at the scene, according to The Associated Press.
In an emotional Instagram post at the time, Cheryl called Payne's death an "earth-shattering event," writing, "Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father" to their son.
'Lasting damage': Liam Payne's family speaks out on 'media attention' of death investigation
How did Liam Payne die?
The day after Payne's death, the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office No. 16 in Argentina announced in a press release that Payne died from "polytrauma" and "internal and external hemorrhage."
Prosecutors said that minutes before the death, hotel workers "called the 911 emergency line to ask for help for a guest who was under the influence of drugs and alcohol and who had destroyed some objects in the room."
Toxicology testing later found Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system in the 72 hours before his death.
Liam Payne dies: Former One Direction member was 31
A February 2025 report from Argentina's Public Prosecutor's Office revealed the singer's blood alcohol level at the time of his death was 2.7 grams per liter, or 0.27% BAC, which is considered dangerously high. In the majority of the United States, the legal limit is 0.08%.
The singer also had cocaine metabolites, methylecgonine, benzoylecgonine, cocaethylene and sertraline, an antidepressant medication, in his system, according to the report.
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, KiMi Robinson and Jay Stahl, USA TODAY