Who are the beneficiaries of Matthew Perry’s will? Late F.R.I.E.N.D.S actor’s estate reveals he had $1.5M in personal bank account before death

Late F.R.I.E.N.D.S. star Matthew Perry's finances have recently come to light. Perry was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54. A tox screeching by the LA Medical Examiner's Office later revealed he died due to the acute effects of ketamine.

Per PEOPLE, citing an inventory and appraisal document filed on July 2, 2024, by Lisa Ferguson, one of the trustees with the actor's estate, he had a little over $1.5 million in his personal bank account at the time of his death.

However, according to Celebrity Net Worth, the late actor's fortune was estimated at $120 million. This raised questions about the disparity in the two figures.

In a will revealed in March 2024, the 17 Again actor placed the rest of his assets in a trust created in 2009.

Matthew Perry's parents, John Perry and Suzanne Morrison, his half-sister Caitlin Morrison, and his ex-girlfriend Rachel Dunn were listed as the beneficiaries. Additionally, it indicated that any children the actor had would not be entitled to his estate. However, he never had children.

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Matthew Perry's wealth was left to his trust, called the Alyv Singer Living Trust, named after Woody Allen's character in Annie Hall

When personal property like cash is left in the name of the deceased, it needs to be transferred to their trust to be distributed to the beneficiaries. Initially (March 2024), Matthew Perry's personal property was estimated at around $1 million, but recently the updated inventory determined his probate estate to be $1,596,914.47.

The rest of Matthew Perry's wealth was left to his trust, called the Alyv Singer Living Trust, named after Woody Allen's character in Annie Hall. Any assets placed in the trust have not been made public.

In a discussion with PEOPLE, Jonathan Forster, probate lawyer and director at Weinstock Manion (not involved in the case), explained the benefits of keeping a trust as opposed to a will.

"The reason why we use trusts as opposed to wills is that trusts also avoid probate, and probate is a court-supervised transfer of assets, and probate is public," explained Forster.

According to Investopedia, a probate is the legal process that occurs after a person dies that involves validation and administration of a will. Forster told the publication:

"When we're typically doing an estate plan with a will and a trust, the will simply leaves assets to the trust. You would fund (the trust) during your lifetime. The will would be kind of like a catch-all, where if there are any assets owned by the person when they pass away, the will is directed to transfer those assets into the trust."

He added that not everything under the trust is subject to probate, especially anything that has a beneficiary designation.

He explained that while there are several reasons why someone would leave money in their personal name, they advise "clients to retitle their accounts in the name of their trusts to avoid probate," which the F.R.I.EN.D.S. actor failed to do.

While any information in the will goes through probate, a trust always remains private. Thus, there is no way to know the details of Matthew Perry's assets.

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Matthew Perry struggled with substance abuse throughout his life, and prior to his death, he was planning to create a foundation to help those with similar battles with alcohol and drug addiction. In November 2023, his family launched The Matthew Perry Foundation in his honor to help realize the late actor's wishes.