Bear Grey Payne, the 9-year-old son of Liam Payne and Cheryl Cole, has been named the sole beneficiary of the singer’s estate, valued at nearly $28 million.
Most of the money from the estate will be held in a trust for Bear until he turns 18, but a small portion can be accessed now, according to court documents reportedly obtained by TMZ.
Payne died at the age of 31 after falling from his hotel balcony in Argentina in October 2024. As Payne didn’t have a will at the time of his death, Cheryl and music lawyer Richard Bray were appointed administrators of Liam’s estate.
Payne and Cheryl had Bear, their only child together, in March 2017, one year after they started dating. When Liam announced the couple’s split in July 2018, he requested privacy and stressed that their focus remained on Bear, whom they considered to be “our world.”
Cheryl has carried on that persistence to keep Bear out of the public eye.
When the UK singer broke her silence about Payne’s death via a statement on Instagram, she included a photo of Liam and Bear as a baby.
"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,” she wrote at the time. “It is breaking my heart further that I cannot protect him from that in his future.”
Five people were charged in December 2024 in connection to the One Direction singer’s death. While three of the charges were dropped, hotel employees Braian Paiz and Ezequiel Pereyra still stand accused of supplying drugs to Payne.
