Liam Payne’s former partner, Cheryl Tweedy, has been officially appointed as the administrator of his $32.2 million estate.
Court documents filed on May 1 named the 41-year-old musician, who shares an 8-year-old son, Bear, with the late One Direction singer, and attorney Richard Mark Bray as the co-administrators of Payne’s estate. Payne died without leaving a will.
According to the documents obtained by PEOPLE, Payne’s estate in the UK holds a gross value of $38 million, with a net worth of approximately $32.2 million.
Under UK inheritance laws, estate administration typically falls to a legal spouse or closest blood relative if no will exists.
The BBC noted that while Cheryl and Bray will manage the funds, they “currently have limited authority and cannot distribute it.” In cases where the deceased has no spouse or civil partner, the children normally inherit the estate.
The 'Strip That Down' hitmaker, who passed away after falling from a balcony in Buenos Aires in October 2024, had been dating influencer Kate Cassidy for around two years at the time of his death. He and Cheryl dated from 2016 to 2018 and welcomed Bear in 2017.
Following his passing, the 'Fight For This Love' singer released a rare public statement describing the loss as an “earth-shattering event,” asking fans to remember “that we have lost a human being".
“Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend, and a father to our 7-year-old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again,” she penned.
“What is troubling my spirit the most is that one day, Bear will have access to the abhorrent reports and media exploitation we have seen in the past two days. It is breaking my heart further that I cannot protect him from that in his future," she continued.
"I am begging you to consider what use some of these reports are serving, other than to cause further harm to everyone left behind picking up the pieces. Before you leave comments or make videos, ask yourself if you would like your own child or family to read them.”
“Please give Liam the little dignity he has left in the wake of his death to rest in some peace at last," she concluded.
Payne's girlfriend also shared the emotional impact of the singer's death during a March interview on Lorraine.
“I’m still working on accepting the fact that he’s not here anymore, so it’s hard for me to refer to him in the past tense,” Cassidy said. “When I do refer to him in the past tense, it almost stings that little bit more. I never would have thought that I would be talking about him in the past tense, so it's definitely really hard to accept.”
In a separate interview on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, Cassidy recalled the couple’s final goodbye before she flew from Argentina back to Florida.
“I remember sitting there with him and I was going on and on and on about how much I love him and he laughed and interrupted me,” she said. “He was like: ‘Kate, you’re gonna miss your flight. Your car is in the driveway.’”
Then came his haunting final words: “You're acting like this is the last time you're ever gonna see me again."
“To look back in time and know that that was the last time I was ever going to see him again is just so chilling,” she shared. “I am so blessed that it was that heartfelt goodbye. Our last goodbye - I wouldn't have wanted it to be any differently. I am so glad we had that beautiful time together, and I wouldn't change that.”
Cassidy learned of his death three days later via a phone call from a friend. “Is Liam okay? I heard he fell from a balcony,” the caller said.
Assuming he’d maybe broken a bone, the social media influencer started calling people for updates, but no one picked up. Then came a second call: “The only update I’ve heard is that Liam’s … dead.”
“I still didn’t really believe it,” she said. “I just kept saying, ‘No, no, no. Are you sure? He probably just… broke a bone. He broke a rib. He broke something.’”
After confirmation came, Cassidy said she "lost it," and her housekeeper, who had gone home earlier that day, rushed back to support her.
“She put in the garage code, ran in the house, and just literally fell on the ground and just hugged me and just said, ‘I am so sorry,’” she recalled. “It was just me and her, and she was so comforting and brought me water, brought me tissues.”
Cassidy admitted to feeling abandoned by her late boyfriend in the days immediately after his passing. “I’m such a believer in signs. I believe in manifesting, and I know that he’s with me,” she said. “But for the first five days, I didn’t feel anything.”
Desperate for a sign, she found herself pleading in his closet: “Show me a sign. This is so unfair… I’m so disappointed. I love you so much, but I need you to show me a sign because I don’t feel you.”
Payne’s sister, Ruth Gibbins, also shared her grief online with a heartfelt Instagram tribute six months after his death.
“I can sometimes hear you laughing at me walking around like Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost, looking for you everywhere I go,” she wrote.
“I see you, though, you’re always coming through in different ways to put me back on the right path. I can’t process what’s happened and the finality of it, you know, I will never stop doing all I can for you. I miss you loudly, quietly, and in all the moments in between.”